


Thundering Wolf

by PattRose



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: AU, Angst, First Time, M/M, Slash, Violence, h/c, poetry added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-14
Updated: 2012-04-14
Packaged: 2017-11-03 15:27:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/382969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PattRose/pseuds/PattRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agent Jim Ellison is asked to go and check out a rogue Agent on a Reservation in Washington.  He hasn't a clue as to what he is up against.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thundering Wolf

Thundering Wolf  
Patt 

"O Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds,  
I come to you as one of your many children.  
I need your strength and your wisdom.  
Make me strong not to be superior to my brother,  
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy:

Chief Dan George

 

Agent Jim Ellison slowly walked to the Director’s office at the Federal Building. He wasn’t certain that he wanted to know what the next assignment was going to be. Lately it seemed his superiors had given him every shit job they could find, in the hopes that he would leave.

It had all started when he began experiencing these little lapses in time. He would lose seconds or even up to ten minutes at a time. He had been to see the physicians, and they had all given him a clean bill of health. This didn't make his superiors happy; he was certain of that. He knew they were trying to get rid of him

 

Agent Ellison was almost to Director Madison’s office. He stopped by the secretary’s desk and said, “Agent Ellison to see Director Madison.”

She smiled and said, “Sit down Agent Ellison, Director Madison will be with you shortly.”

Jim smiled back at her, but inside he wondered why people summoned you to see them and then made you wait outside their office. God, Jim hated Agency politics.

Director Madison opened his door, “Agent Ellison, come in, won’t you? “ 

Again, Jim was thinking, like I have a choice. They are so full of shit.

"Agent Ellison," the director began, "I have an assignment for you and another agent. It's top priority, and also a matter of maximum security. Obviously, this can't be discussed with anyone you know. You know the usual precautions.”

Jim regarded his superior with cool blue eyes. Like I would discuss my cases, he thought, trying to conceal his contempt for the man who sat in front of him. He just said, however, "What is the assignment?” 

Director Madison said, “Here is one file on the assignment. You will receive all of the rest of the paperwork at your hotel in Olympia, Washington. An Agent Megan Connor will meet you there. Before you get there, I do need to tell you one thing. Agent Sandburg is half Nisqually, and that is why he was asked to go and get the lease signed. He knows the Chief. Everything you need to know will be waiting in Olympia. You and Agent Connor will go over your assignment and report back to us before you begin. Do you have any questions to ask before you leave, Agent Ellison?” 

“I have a few, sir,” Jim said capably, “I was wondering why he hadn’t been reached before now. And have you sent any other agents to see why those leases weren’t signed yet and his paperwork brought back to the Agency. How long has he been there sir?”

“All good questions,” the superior replied, “don’t’ worry about anything but bringing the leases back signed and Agent Sandburg in tow. We don’t have a lot of time left in the time frame, so we must get this done as soon as possible. We’ve sent out four agents to get him. Two each time and they were all refused admittance to the Chief’s home and land. Even if we got the proper papers signed, it would be too late, Sandburg would have been gone by the time we got back there. And the Tribal Peace Officers don’t help you in any way. They only help their own. Agent Sandburg has been there for eight months.”

Jim needed to know more about this case, it made no sense to him. He still had more questions. “Sir, don’t you think that eight months is a little long for him to be gone?” Jim asked. “And is he a threat to either myself or Agent Connor? Is he armed and or dangerous?” 

“Again good questions, Agent Ellison,” Madison said, “he’ll be treated as a possible threat to the two of you. We think him more of a hazard to the FBI than anything. And yes, he is armed and dangerous. Don’t think you can have faith in the things he says, you believe what the files say. The Agency couldn’t get him out, and we don’t want a land war with the Nisqually. Then we’d be on television, shown in a not very complimentary way.” 

Ellison felt like he was missing something here, he just didn’t know what it was. He hoped that he’d be able to figure this out with this new agent he was meeting up with.

“Here is your plane ticket, Agent Ellison and the address of the motel.” Madison said stoically. Everything else will be there waiting for you.”

Jim took the tickets and the file and said, "Thank you, sir. I will talk to you tomorrow, then." And with this said, Jim turned and walked out of the office. 

He knew full well that this was probably just one more shit assignment he would be regretting by the next day. But this was still his job, and until he changed that, he would be accountable to the agency. Heading out of the office building, he made his way to his truck, so he could go home and pack.

After Ellison left Director Madison’s office, Madison called his friend and said, “I’ve got someone on it right now. This guy hasn’t got any room to screw up, so I feel we’ll get good results from him. Now we just sit back and wait for the lease to be signed and for Sandburg to be in custody.”

Arriving at his loft, Jim looked around the living room. It was quite sparse in furniture and wall hangings. It looked like he had just moved in, although he hadn’t. When his wife had left him, part of him left along with her. For a while his marriage worked out well. But soon enough she found out he was a cold man who didn’t like opening up to her. She couldn’t live like that and left. As he headed up to his room, he thought of all the acquaintances he didn’t have. Why is that? He reflected. Because you’re an asshole, Ellison, came the reply, and no one wants to put up with your crap. Stop thinking about it and get packed. 

Jim started packing and wondered how chilly it was in Washington. Even though it was spring, it might still be really cold, so he decided to take plenty of warm clothing. He liked to be in control, didn’t want to be stuck somewhere without the proper clothing, coats or weapons. Jim hoped that he wouldn’t be there that long. For once, Jim would like to have things work out well. Trouble-free, swift and well organized. Jim doubted that it would. 

No one had ever said that Jim Ellison was an idealist.

Leaving his truck at the loft, Jim called a cab. He got to the airport with time enough to get something to drink before the flight. He found himself a tiny bit nervous and didn’t know why; maybe because he felt anxious about this whole assignment and just wanted to get it over with. And he detested having to work with new people.

Sitting there trying to not feel sorry for himself, Jim heard his flight being called. Grabbing his carry-on luggage and his jacket, he made his way to the gate. 

He hated these damn small planes. 

Jim arrived in Olympia on a plane that nearly blew his eardrums apart. Jim looked down at his watch and saw that the plane had arrived a little early. So, he didn’t know if he’d have to wait for Agent Connor or not. It was only about 5:30 p.m. Agent Connor met him at the airport; she also arrived early and she seemed as curious about the assignment as Jim was. They collected their bags, and headed to the hotel. Jim sensed she seemed to be as nervous as he was, too.

The two agents didn't seem to want to talk in the cab. Looking over at Ellison, Connor thought, he must be as big a screw-up as I am. Why else had he pulled a shit assignment like this? Finally breaking the silence, she said, "So, Agent Ellison, would you like to have dinner? At the motel? Or wherever you like."

Jim looked at her strangely, but relaxed as if he realized she was just trying to be nice. "Agent Connor," he said, "first of all, call me Ellison, please. Secondly, yes, I would like to have dinner. I'm starving. May I call you Connor?"

Connor smiled and said, "Yes, Connor would be great. I always want to look around when someone says Agent Connor, like there's someone else with me who has that name as a first name for something." She laughed, and so did Jim.

Apparently, the ice was breaking. Both of them thought this might just work out all right.

When the agents got to the motel, they checked into adjacent rooms. Handy if we have to work into the night, Jim noted. He wondered if this might actually turn out to be a decent case after all; that would be a change. He doubted it would, however, even though Connor seemed pretty with it; and not like the screw-up he had expected. So, he had still had some hope - maybe he could even be an optimist for a change. He found himself smiling at that thought.

They went into their respective rooms and Jim picked up the packet on his bed. It was a file on an agent named Blair Sandburg, a.k.a. Thundering Wolf. Jim already knew that it would say in the file that Agent Sandburg was half Nisqually. Sent in some eight months ago to a Nisqually reservation, Agent Sandburg was checking on talks regarding the leasing of land around an area that the government wanted to use. According to the information in Jim's hand, the agent had had some difficulty in completing his assignment. There was even talk that he had gone native. 

According to the last word from Sandburg, the tribe, which had a population of 2500 or so, still didn't want outsiders on their land, nor their territory disturbed in any way, shape, or form. But according to another tribal local who had apparently called the FBI to complain, Sandburg was actually talking the tribal elders out of the government deal. This informant, who said he backed the government and wanted his people to make money, also stated that the majority of the tribe felt this way and that Sandburg was, in essence, not only undermining the FBI, but refusing to represent the majority of the tribe's wishes as well.

The next section was about how two different sets of FBI agents were sent here to meet with Agent Sandburg, but weren’t allowed to see him or talk to him. The Nisqually Elders told them they would have to take him by force and would be met with force from them. The tribe was being overly cautious. Jim found himself wondering why they would be protecting him if most of the people didn’t agree with him. Jim had a feeling that not everything was in this file. They would need to learn a lot more about this Agent Sandburg and the Tribe.

Jim noticed that nothing was mentioned regarding what the land would be used for. Interesting case, he thought. He wondered what was really up with Agent Sandburg. What had Sandburg found out from the Chief to get so wrapped up in it that he didn’t even go back to work for eight months? 

Jim was still glancing at Agent Sandburg's file when he heard a soft knock on the door. Opening it to find Connor, he said, “Come on in, I was just starting to read about our Agent Sandburg. Have you had a chance to read the file?"

"Yes," she said. "Sounds like he might be interfering with agency policy, but who knows? I realize that the agency wouldn’t tell us everything, but it sounds like he might be wandering off a bit on his own. Although, I’m not sure I agree with them sending in one of the Nisqually to do this. I think that might make given him an instant conflict of interests. What do you think?"

Jim nodded, watched as Connor moved around the room and sat down at the foot of the other double bed. He said, “I don’t believe that he had a conflict of interests. I perceive the impression that he is getting more of the story than we are. We aren’t being informed of anything. Who wants the land? What are they going to use it for and so on? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until I see something that doesn’t make me feel comfortable about it anymore.” 

"Agent Ellison," she said, "may I be candid with you? I don’t know why you’re here, but you must have screwed up terribly because frankly, they’ve been trying to get rid of me for a long time. Am I wrong? Or is this just the kind of screwed-up assignment that nobody else wants?"

Jim gave a dry smile as he said, “Who knows? I'm sure if you ask around, you'll hear the word on me, Connor." He sighed, walked over to the window, squinted against the glare even through the gauzy white curtains. "I've been having some...I don't know, little lapses in time, I guess you'd say."

Connor raised a brow. "Lapses in time?"

"Not very long at this point," Jim said. "Maybe a few minutes when I seem to be concentrating so hard on something that I blank out and can't remember it when I come to, so to speak. I've had all kinds of tests, which have all come back negative, but as you might imagine, the agency is trying to put me on the back burner here. Probably even trying to get me to retire, I don't know. I thought you ought to know about them, though. In fact, I'm not even sure if I should continue on this case."

"The doctors can't find anything?"

"No," said Jim. "Like I said, it might be nothing. But I don't want to put anybody in danger, yourself included."

"I'll take my chances," the other agent said firmly. Then she added, "Besides, this case shouldn't be too difficult. Apparently Agent Sandburg has an excellent record with the agency. I say we just track him down, ask him a few questions. Shouldn't be difficult to find him. And by the way, Ellison, I'll keep a watch out if you start to blank out. I'm good at watching people's backs."

Jim regarded her for a moment, then said, “Thanks, Connor. But I won't be offended if you want me to back out."

"And give the agency the satisfaction of easing you out? I don't think so."

Jim smiled now. "Okay. How about dinner, so we can get an early start in the morning?" 

Connor said, “Sounds good to me, Ellison.”

They left the room and made way to the diner. Very small motel, very small diner, but the food smelled great. As they slid into a booth, the waitress walked up and handed them both menus. She asked if she could get them water. Jim smiled as he said, “More than anything, I would love to have a beer. Connor would you like to have one with me? At least we don’t have to drive.”  
\----

After dinner, Jim said, "Your room or mine? For examining the case files," he added dryly. "Unless you're ready to retire for the night."

Megan quickly answered, “I'd like to examine the files with you, because I, for one, feel like there's a lot more here than meets the eye. Any time a fellow agent jumps ship, well, that interests me.”

As they walked into the hotel room, Jim stopped dead in his tracks and smelled the air. Connor watched him, hand automatically going to her weapon, and Jim pointed to the paper on his bed. In an instant, both agents had their guns out and at the ready, looking around the room and in the bathroom. No one was there. Moving to the bed, Jim reached down and opened a folded sheet of paper. 

“Peace is every step,” he read aloud, Connor looking over his shoulder at the words. “I don’t know about you, Connor," Jim said dryly, "but I'm not wild about people invading my room to leave a note. We'd better check yours."

There was another note on Connor's bed. It read, “We shall walk hand in hand.” 

Connor smiled at Jim and said, “I think I like mine a little better than yours.”

He glared at her and grumbled, “Connor, this isn’t funny. There’s nothing remotely funny about any of this. I don’t know about you, but this pisses me off. I would say Agent Sandburg is taunting us. But until we find him, we won’t know.”

 

Connor and Ellison returned to the latter's room and settled down to study up on the puzzle that was Agent Sandburg. As they read more, Connor grabbed the pie and the coffee they had brought up from the restaurant, and they settled in.  
According to their information, Sandburg had been sent in to help talk the officials into leasing the land that the government wanted, and again, why the government wanted it was not stated. He was supposed to get them to sign the papers and bring them back, job done, but it was the last the agency had seen of him.

As they were both reading, lost in their work, Jim suddenly smelled the odor he had smelled when he first walked into the room. Smelled like the mountains and spring water. He put his finger to his lips as a sign for Connor not to make a sound and went to the door. Yanking it open, he saw none other than the man their pictures showed to be Agent Blair Sandburg.

Ellison and Connor both pulled their guns out and told him to get inside. Agent Sandburg just smiled and walked into the room. Ellison said, “My name is Agent Jim Ellison and this is my partner Agent Megan Connor. We’ve been sent to collect the signed lease and you and take both back to the Agency.”

Sandburg introduced himself, “It’s good to meet you, Agent Connor, Agent Ellison. I’m Agent Blair Sandburg.”

“What were the notes about, Chief?” Jim asked.

Suddenly, Sandburg flew over to Jim, slammed him against the wall and said, “Do you know how fucking rude that is to call me Chief, knowing I am a Native American? You don’t have a clue as to how that makes a Native American feel. You have insulted every single living or dead Chief of the American Indian Nation.”

Jim pushed Sandburg's hands off of him, and looked away in embarrassment. He said, "I’m really very sorry. At home, in Cascade "Chief" is a term of endearment like saying pal or something. Sorry about that. I won’t call you that again. I wasn’t thinking.” Then he asked once more, “What were the notes for?”

“They were a way of welcoming you," said Sandburg. "Letting you know I meant you no harm. Knowing the Agency like I do, I didn’t want to get shot. Although, I wasn’t making a sound in the hallway, what gave me away?”

“What difference does it make?” Jim said angrily. “If you wanted us to know this, why not just come in and tell us? Why not call the Bureau and tell them why you aren’t able to get anywhere with the elders, instead of playing this cloak and dagger game of yours.”

Connor stood up and said, “Agent Ellison what are the sleeping arrangements going to be?”

“Agent Sandburg will stay here,” Jim answered quickly. “I need to keep an eye on him, so he doesn’t take off. Connor, you go ahead and get some rest.”

“No way,” Connor said firmly, “if he is staying here, I am staying here. We are a team, Ellison. Remember we said we do things together? I’ll rest in the chair for the first half of the night and you for the second half. How does that sound?”

Ellison said, “That’ll work. Nothing against you, Sandburg, but for some reason they couldn’t get a hold of you for all this time. We don’t want to lose you.”

Connor said, “Ellison, I think that’ll work out just fine.”

Blair got into the bed, rolled over, looking to the other bed and said, “Goodnight, Agent Ellison and Connor.”

Both Ellison and Connor said, “Goodnight.” 

When Sandburg woke up in the morning, he rolled over and saw Agent Ellison sitting in the chair, staring at him with blank, open eyes. At first he thought he was dead. Then he realized that Ellison’s chest was moving while breathing.  
Getting out of bed, he went over to Jim. “Ellison, can you wake up?" Blair asked worriedly. "Is something wrong? Agent Connor, something’s wrong with Agent Ellison.”

Connor walked over to the chair and said, “So this is what he was talking about. He said he leaves now and then, I guess this is what he is talking about.”

Sandburg touched Ellison’s arm and said, “Agent Ellison, can you hear me? Can you feel my hand on you?”

With that, Jim moved and blinked his eyes. The concerned looks on both of the faces of Sandburg and Connor told him exactly what had happened. He got out of the chair and went into the bathroom, slamming the door. 

“Don’t let him fool you,” Connor said. “He isn’t pissed off; it scares him, I think. He isn’t in control. And I don’t know about you, but he strikes me as a control type person. This probably scares the shit out of him.”

Sandburg’s mind was spinning a mile a minute and all he could think about was that he might have found himself a Sentinel. He wasn’t certain, but Ellison had somehow known he was out in the hallway the night before. And now he was zoning. He could very well be a Sentinel. At least Blair was very familiar with them. 

Sandburg walked to the bathroom door; he could hear the shower running. He knocked on the door and as he entered, said, “Ellison, I need to talk to you. It might be of some importance to you. I might be able to help you with some things that are going on right now. I have to ask some questions about your senses.”

“Sandburg,” Ellison yelled, “did it ever occur to you to wait until I got out of the shower before coming in here? Jesus Christ, get the fuck out of my face.” 

With this, he climbed out of the shower, put a towel around himself, and then stormed past Sandburg.

Not letting Jim push him around at all, Sandburg followed him into the room. Connor was sitting on the bed and Jim started getting some clothing out of the dresser, and said to her, “If you don’t want to see all of me, you better get out of here now. I’m getting dressed. And the last time I looked, this was my room, right?” With that he took and removed the towel and started drying off,

Connor stood her ground, but did have the decency to turn around while he dried off and dressed. 

“Ellison, just calm down.” Sandburg said, smiling. “I need to ask you some questions, but I need the facts. And I need you to trust in someone you don’t even know. I assure you that if I'm correct, I could possibly have some answers for you. How did you know I was in the hallway last night?”

“I heard your footsteps first,” Ellison said quietly, “then I could smell your scent. You have a scent like no one I’ve ever smelled before. You see, I’ve got a very strong sense of smell and of hearing. That’s what tipped me off.” 

Blair answered, “And you don’t find it odd that you could smell me from inside your room, even with the smell of coffee and apple pie? How many more of your senses are more keen than normal?”

Jim didn’t know why, he replied, but he answered, “All of them. I have a sharp sense of touch, taste and sight, why?"

Blair smiled at him, moving towards Connor and said, “Connor, you have to know this is something that is not in the norm, so we can’t discuss it outside of the three of us. We are entrusting you with this and hope that we can trust you. Now I’ll tell you what I think is going on. But first of all, we’re spending the day reading, about Sentinels, doing some tests and me answering some questions that I am sure you both have. We’ll tackle the Reservation as soon as we are done with this.

Blair sat on the bed and told them all about the Sentinel Legend and what he believed was occurring when Jim was using one sense too intensely. He went on to explain that it could be controlled, but that that would take teaching and guidance on all of their parts. He looked at Connor and at Ellison and grinned at the looks on their faces. 

Connor, the first one to recover, said, “So, Sandburg, what do we do for Jim while he has one of these so called zones? I mean, we can’t just stand somewhere and pretend we don’t notice it. And evidentially someone will notice at the Bureau. Ellison's already on thin ice as it is.”

Jaw tightening, Jim said, “Excuse me, I'm still in the room here, you know. The Bureau doesn’t think I’m a first-rate agent, and they aren’t that far off.  
Jim added, “A friend of mine in Cascade is trying to talk me into law enforcement there. So, I have some things to consider.”

Sandburg gave Jim a look of pure surprise, and said sarcastically, “That would be so much better wouldn’t it? Working in that occupation, not being able to handle your senses. Give it up, Ellison. You’re going to have to get control if you intend on getting anywhere in any line of work. I swear to you, it can be managed. I’ll show you how to do it. I can help you with it, if you allow me to try.”

Jim said, “Wait a moment, we are getting way off track here. The bureau sent us up here to find out why you wouldn’t talk to them about getting those land leases like you said you were. They said they want the leases signed and you brought back, no questions asked.”

Blair rose from the bed and said, “Do you have any idea why they want the land? Or more to the point, do you care? Are you just following orders, or do you want to find a better way to do it? The Elders have informed me that the government already ruined their land once and almost ruined their salmon fishing in the rivers and streams. They tried to destroy the forest areas on their land, too. There have been many people on the reservation that have gotten very ill from the water. It soaked into the wells and the Government had promised to put the wells above ground. 

It is something that is simple to take care of, but the government doesn’t want to do it. Because of the cost, they don’t want to save people from being sick and maybe getting diseases as they get older.”

Connor said, “Is this a proven fact that this really happened? I mean, how do we know that it is really true? We just met you, Sandburg, and have to make our own minds up. We’d like some proof.”

“Connor, I came prepared," said Sandburg. "In that folder is all of the government papers you need to see about what they didn’t do to stop the problems with the water and the land. It will just take some time to read. Now I have a question. Why is this so important and why can’t they wait on my results? Actually, it wasn’t the government that destroyed the land and contaminated the water supply. It was a big company, but when it was brought to the government’s attention, they just ignored it. Thinking they were dealing with second class citizens, no doubt.”

Ellison moved over to the bed, sitting while looking at the papers. He said, “Sandburg give us some time to read this new information. You can’t expect us to just take your word for it. We need to see it in black and white. Relax while we start reading.”

 

“By all means, read,” Sandburg said. “Then when you are done, we can ask and answer all questions.”

Blair walked over to the window and looked out and saw the beautiful sunshine and smiled. He loved this area. It wasn’t too cold and sure wasn’t too hot. Spending time here he found himself thinking of perfection. 

Sandburg turned from the window and asked, “Agent Ellison and Connor, should we order something to eat? I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starving.”

“Go ahead,” Ellison replied inattentively, “whatever you all want is fine by me.”

“The diner that we ate at last night, was really good,” Connor said, “and she mentioned that they deliver to the motel. Why don’t you give them a call.”

There was a lot of reading to be done, so Sandburg knew he was going to have some time on his hands. He pulled his journal out of his backpack and started writing in it. He knew that someday he would find a true Sentinel. He always knew this. He was taught as a child that he was born to be a guide.  
As he wrote, Blair found himself glancing over off and on at Ellison. He found the man fascinating. He realized he was gawking and found Ellison staring back.

“Sandburg, do you have a problem with me?" Jim asked. "Just spit it out.”

Sandburg looked at Jim with a strange look on his face and answered, “Ellison, there is nothing wrong. I’ve been waiting my whole life to find someone with all five heightened senses, and you finding me, is just more than I can take right this second. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to stare. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to use the restroom.”

Ellison knew obfuscation when he heard it. He knew something was up with Sandburg - the man had not stopped staring at him since they had met. Maybe he really did know something about me, somehow, Jim pondered. Maybe it's fate. What if he needed a guide for the rest of his life? The sudden thought nearly panicked the usually stoic Ellison.

At that moment, Sandburg came out of the restroom and asked Jim, “Ellison, do you mind if I get out for some fresh air and a walk before our food comes?”

"No," Ellison replied. "If you'll give me a second to get my jacket, I’ll join you. Connor, did you want to come along?”

Connor looked at the two men and said, “Ellison, I think I should finish reading this file while he goes for his walk. I’ll see you both in a half hour. Enjoy getting out and getting some fresh air, Agent Sandburg.”

Blair smiled and said, “If Ellison isn’t comfortable letting me go by myself, I don’t mind the company.”

Jim just shrugged, and the two men set out.

"I get a little jumpy if I can't be outdoors once in a while," Sandburg admitted as Jim held the outside door open for him. They walked down a small nearby road; the cool wind was whipping at their backs. It was much colder outside that it looked to be from inside the room. 

Glad for the warmer clothing he had brought along, Jim noticed that Sandburg was still shaking, even wearing a thick coat. 

“Agent Connor seems to be a really nice person and a good Agent," Sandburg said. "I’m glad that the two of you are at least reading the files I made up for you to study.”

Jim gave a half-smile and said, "Yes, she is a good agent. You know that we're not saying you aren't, right, Sandburg?"

"I know," Sandburg smiled. "You're just doing your job, man."

"That's why we're reading everything," Jim said. "Your files don't paint you as an agent who would purposely sabotage an assignment."

"Sometimes things aren't always black and white," Agent Sandburg said.

"I know," said Jim dryly. Then he said, "So, what is the real story here, Sandburg? Have you jumped ship or what?"

They walked in silence for a while; Blair shooting covert looks over at his companion. He wondered if he went for guys. Blair didn't, but he had had this strong feeling towards the tall agent ever since they had met. Well, truth be told, Blair had never been with a man, but that didn’t seem to bother him right now. Ellison was very handsome. Very strong looking, with a beauty that was beneath the tough exterior. 

Ellison could feel Sandburg watching him and was a little uncomfortable with this. He wondered if Sandburg could tell that he was having very strange thoughts about the two of them. He didn’t know how he would know, but just knew he probably did. Why all of a sudden did he want a man? Ellison could hardly wait to get done with this job. It would never be too soon.

Suddenly, a truck came barreling around a corner. Hearing it before it even cleared the turn; Jim was able to shove Sandburg out of the way before he was run over. Jim took down the license plate and kept track in his mind of what they both looked like in the truck. He looked over at Sandburg and said, “Sandburg, are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, Ellison,” Sandburg said, picking himself up off the ground. He accepted Jim's hand for help, and for a moment, their fingers entangled. “Quite the opposite," he said. "You saved my life. Have you ever heard the old proverb saying that if a man saves your life, he is bound to you for life, to be your Blessed Protector? Thanks, man. I didn’t hear or see them coming. I would’ve been road kill.”

“Sandburg,” Jim said, “You really should have been road kill. If I hadn’t heard them coming, they would have hit you. I could see them clearly and they were aiming for you. This wasn’t just someone being careless.”

“I don’t want to make you more anxious, but now the stakes were just upped. Someone wants you out of the way. You’re going to have to tell us more about these talks. They have to be worth a lot of money in order for two idiots to try that in broad daylight in front of two Agents.” Ellison tried not to look so worried. 

 

Sandburg and Ellison walked through the door and told Connor what had happened. She was surprised, but after reading all the files, it wasn’t as big a surprise as it would have been to someone that hadn’t read them. In those files she read that the government wanted the land for a major company to use. Not for Federal land use. So it was the same as what happened years ago in the 1970’s. 

Evidentially the Chief saw this and recognized what it would do to the land, the water and the people in the long run. Agent Sandburg was indeed being very cautious but Connor felt he might be doing the right thing. She needed to read more. 

Connor said, “I find it fascinating that they are able to support their tribes with the Indian Gaming. That's good, but they seem to have lost a lot of land through the course of the years. Not to mention the trees that they lost with the land. And there seems to be a lot of water pollution problems there.”

“Yes, they’re able to make a good living,” Sandburg said, “and they also fish. Salmon is the biggest feature sold on their land. This is something they insist all of the young Tribal members learn very early in life. I have drawn up papers for the government to put in above ground water tanks, so that the tribe won’t have contaminated water any longer.”

“The Elders assured me that no more land was going to be used for anything that would harm their existing land.” Sandburg continued, “ We also drew up papers asking the government for the funding to start a wolf and bear refuge. They are both endangered because of all the hunting. The Native Americans do not hunt them.” 

With a sadness in his eyes and his voice, Blair said, “They want the trees to become as strong as they once were, and then will come places for the wild life to be able to survive.”

While Sandburg and Connor were discussing this, Jim called the local authorities. They said they would be sending someone out as soon as possible. Then Jim put in the call to his superior. Director Madison wasn’t a happy man, hearing all this. He said, “Ellison, just bring Sandburg back and we’ll get someone else assigned for getting the leases signed.”

“But sir, we can get it taken care of.” Ellison said, “We’re going to speak to the elders tomorrow. I have a good feeling about this and hope to have better news about it after that interview.”

“Ellison, you have one week.” Director Madison said, “ If nothing happens, you’ll bring in Sandburg and that will be the end of this case. Is this understood?”

“Yes sir,” Jim said. “I think we’ll be able to solve this problem by the end of the week. We'll wait and call when we have some good news.”

As soon as Ellison got off the phone, the diner was there with their food. They all ate in silence as they studied the files. This case was a lot more than any of them had imagined it would be. 

That night, all the agents again stayed in one room, talking about the tribal elders and other issues of the case.

They ordered dinner in again and ate together, but this time there was a little more talking than earlier that day. They all seemed to be loosening up a little bit. After dinner, Sandburg said, “I hope you don’t mind me taking a quick shower.”

Ellison smiled and said, “No as a matter of fact, I’ll go next. And while you’re in there, Connor can go to her own room and take one herself.”

Sandburg got into the shower and couldn’t seem to get his mind off of his new friends. When had they become friends? They weren’t friends. Were they? Why did he feel so close to Agent Ellison? 

Blair's hand wandered down his body, soaping his hardening cock. While he swirled the soap across his slick skin, sucking in a breath at the familiar sensation, he found himself thinking of Jim Ellison and what it would be like to move that soap across his body. Quickly, he came into his hands. Leaning his head on the cool tile of the shower, he asked himself, what the fuck was going on? He had never wanted a man before in his life, but yet, he wanted this man. He got out of the shower, dried off, put his sweats and tee shirt on and walked into the room.

Jim and Connor both looked up. Megan was just freshly showered and was proud of herself for taking less time than Agent Sandburg.

Jim looked up and said, “Well, I guess that is my cue to get in there for my turn.”

He got his sweats, boxers, and shirt and walked into the bathroom. What hit him was something he had never ever had happen to him. He was instantly hard. He could smell Sandburg’s semen and it was making him almost come without any touch to his body at all. He tried to tell himself how wrong this was, but he couldn’t get his mind off of Sandburg. He was an agent working with him and didn’t need to be thinking about him sexually.

So, as he soaped his body up, he continued those thoughts and started stroking his cock until he came. He was quite confused and needed to think a lot more about it. It’s not like he could talk to anyone about this. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. Ellison was very tight lipped about his personal life. He sure as hell couldn’t discuss this with anyone. 

As Jim crawled into bed, he noticed that Sandburg was already sleeping; he looked over at Connor and said, “Well, I guess I’ll get some sleep. We’ll see you in five hours, Connor. “Goodnight, Ellison, ”Connor said, as she tried not to yawn.

Jim woke at 1:33 a.m. and heard something he hadn’t heard in a long time. He didn’t want to hear the terrible sound of automatic weapons being loaded. He yelled at Connor to get down from the chair and grabbed Sandburg and pulled him onto the floor. Connor and Ellison pulled their guns and Jim gave his extra to Sandburg. Connor and Sandburg both looked at Ellison like he had totally lost his mind, but then suddenly they heard the explosion of gunfire into the room next to them. If Connor had stayed there as planned, she probably would have been dead. Then the shooting started into their room. They all bunkered down and tried to just remain calm until the barrage of bullets was over.

"Ellison, what the hell is going on?" Connor demanded. "This isn't a big case, but yet they're trying to kill us off."

“You all right, Sandburg?” Ellison just crawled over to wear Blair was and said, “Connor, are you in one piece?”

“I’m just ducky,” Megan said angrily. 

“What the fuck was that?" Blair asked. "We're talking murder. They really would have killed us, if you hadn’t heard them. Do you realize that now you are Connor’s blessed protector too? And why would they want us dead? All they have to do is talk the elders into what they want. It’s not like I have that much control over them. Or at least that I’m aware of.”

“The only one that knew that Sandburg was here was Director Madison," Jim replied, still crouched beside the bed. 

The agents looked at one another.

"Are you saying this is an inside job?" Connor asked.

Sandburg glanced from one to the other, eyes wide.

"If it is," Jim said, "this could get very ugly. Any ideas who to contact?"

“Maybe we should call the locals," Connor suggested. "They’ll be glad we asked for their help and might be willing to give us some ideas on where to go from here. We need something to get us going in the right direction.”

“But no one says a word to the locals about the Feds,” Ellison said, “we need to first find out what’s going on and then we can fill them in.”

Jim grabbed his cell phone, and called the local authorities. They responded quickly, questioning the agents and offering their help. Canvassing the motel, they asked for any witnesses, but there were none. 

 

The authorities told Ellison, Sandburg and Connor to go to the motel on the reservation. They’d be safe there. On the Reservation, the Peace Officers would be made aware of what was going on and would be watching out for anything or anyone that was suspicious. The authorities made all the calls and said, “Everything is set up. You are sharing one room on the reservation. They think you should stay together.”

No one really believed that they would be safe anywhere, but they went anyhow. At least the authorities were taking it very seriously. Before they left, Jim went over everything to see if he could find any clues that would help them decide what was going on. After a few hours of looking around, he found nothing but casings from the ammo. He gave them all to the authorities and they’d look into where they came from.

“I just talked to one of the Tribal Peace Officers,” Jim started telling Connor and Sandburg, “and he said, he doesn’t want any of us alone at any time. We’re supposed to stay together at all costs. We need to watch each other’s backs. They’re taking it very seriously. Which I’m glad to see.”

“I still can’t believe this,” Sandburg said with astonishment in his voice, “I can’t believe that they were willing to kill us all over a land lease. Someone would have had to check on it. They couldn’t shut everyone up, could they?”

“You sure wouldn’t think so,” Connor said angrily, “they aren’t going to get away with this either. We’ll keep digging until we find what we need, don’t you worry.”

On the way, they were all quiet. Blair was staring out of the window. Quietly, he said, “Can you see the magnificence here? This is gorgeous country. I find it irresistible. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to change anything about this reservation soil. The splendor is breathtaking.” 

Jim and Connor glanced at one another. Gone native, Jim thought. But as he looked around at the beautiful country, he realized he understood. Perhaps he and Connor had gone Native too.

“Now once we get here," Sandburg said, "let me meet with the elders first, so they know what's going on. Then I’ll set up the meetings for all of us. In the meantime you can get us settled in the motel.”

“Sandburg, I don’t think it is a good idea for any of us to go anywhere alone," Jim said. "We need to keep an eye on each other’s backs. They told us not to go places alone. Didn’t you hear me when I told you this? Need I remind you of what would have happened if I hadn’t heard those clips being loaded into those guns? If you want privacy with the Elders, that's one thing, but I think we should go with you and be sure you have your backup.”

“That’s fine, Ellison,” Blair answered. “I guess we need to take a little more care in this case. I never dreamed it would come to this," he added, "and all over the lease for the land.” 

They got to the motel and checked in. It had been decided that it would be a good idea to share the room again. Jim found himself feeling protective towards Connor and Sandburg. At first he thought it was just because of the thoughts he was having towards and about Sandburg. But now, he was defending Connor also. And he had no feelings at all for her, other than friendship, that is. 

They all got settled in and got their things ready to go see the elders. They thought they would have a few hours of rest before they met with them. Since it was so early and they were all exhausted. So they all lay down and went to sleep. Connor felt she was feeling safe just knowing they were together and could watch each other’s backs. She glanced over at the other bed and saw the two men sleeping soundly. She was wondering about those two. There was something about them. Maybe it was the Guide and Sentinel thing. Or maybe it was something completely different. Well, she’d have to wait and see. That was the last thing she thought of as Connor fell asleep.

Sandburg had all the paper work ready to show the elders. He was very uneasy, because he had grown very fond of these men and didn’t want anything to happen to them. And now he was wondering if someone in the tribe was in on it. He wouldn’t bring this up to anyone until he was surer of it himself. He needed more proof. Sandburg wasn’t even sure he could speak of these things to Ellison yet. 

When they arrived, Blair went in and Connor and Ellison stayed in the car waiting for his return. Ellison decided that this would be as good a time as any to talk to Connor about how his sentinel abilities. He turned towards her and said, “Connor, could I ask you some questions?”

Smiling she said, “Yes, Ellison, you can ask me anything. Shoot.”

Ellison said, “I’m not sure I care for your choice of words.” They both smirked at his poor attempt at humor. At least they were smiling. “I’ve been wondering how you feel about this Sentinel business. Do you believe Sandburg and what he has told us? Do you feel like we can trust him? And how do you feel about keeping that to yourself?”

“First of all,” Connor said, “he can be trusted. I think I’ve never met a man that is more truthful than Sandburg. I can feel it. I just know it. And I believe that he believes the Sentinel stories. It makes sense to me. And as far as me knowing and not telling anyone, that will never be a problem. I don’t have a problem with secrets.”

Jim looked at her and said, “Thanks Connor.”

She continued, “Well, I don’t see the problem with the Sentinel abilities. You just need to learn to control them. I’m sure you don’t want to have to depend on him, but there you are there, why fight it? Right? But I think you should speak to him because I see him observing you sometimes and I think he is having the same dilemma. Agent Ellison, it’s not the end of the world, depending on another man. I think that Sandburg would be glad to have you discuss any of this with him.”

Jim looked out the window as he answered, “I have lost complete control.”

She said, “Control is a big issue for you, isn’t it? Well, life is going to go on whether or not you are in control or not. Go with it and learn all the while.” Having said this she smiled and starting looking out the window also.

They sat in the car soaking up the quiet when Connor finally said, “Ellison, do you think that Director Madison has anything to do with this? He was the only one that knew where we were. He was the only one that knew that I was in the adjacent room. And suddenly someone opens fire on us in the middle of the night. This happening after he told you the night before to bring Sandburg back and he’d put new agents on it. I don’t like how this is looking. I think there might be some type of conspiracy.” 

“Connor,” Jim said, “I don’t usually go for conspiracy theories, but I have to say I’m thinking more along those lines also. We need to find out what the hell is going on. First of all, we need to find out exactly what the government wants from this lease. Then we need to find out who's behind the shooting at the motel. I seriously doubt that was anyone from the reservation. It stank of Agency work to me. What do you think?”

Connor started to answer him, when she saw Blair walk out of the building. He didn’t look happy. 

Slamming the car door behind him, Blair said, "The elders are thinking about signing the papers. I don't understand it. They seem to have completely changed their minds since I last talked to them. I think someone might be threatening them or something that they hold dear.”

“Hold on, Sandburg,” Jim said, “let's tackle one problem at a time. First of all, we need to get copies of the original paperwork to see why the government wants the land."

"Well, let's do it, then," said Connor. 

The three agents went to the main office to get a copy of the paperwork, but it wasn’t there. No one seemed to know where it was. Sandburg looked defeated as he told Jim, “I just feel like we are hitting a new snag at every single turn. I don’t know about you, but I am frustrated as hell.”

Ellison put his arm around Blair’s shoulder and gave him a quick hug. “Don’t give up now, Sandburg," he said. "We’ll figure this out. Who else would have those papers? I think that someone must have them hidden somewhere and we just need to know where to look.”

For a moment, Blair found himself leaning into the touch of Jim Ellison. When he realized what he was doing, he moved away and said, “Well, the Chief has a copy, I saw it while I was at his home. Maybe we should try talking to him. I know this sounds really weird, could you please call me Thundering Wolf while on this land? That is my Native American name. ” Now Blair shook his head and thought to himself, what the hell is wrong with you? This is no time to think you might be falling for someone, let alone your partner. Get a grip. Man, that is the problem, I’m thinking about nothing else but gripping. 

Connor walked up to Sandburg and said, “Thundering Wolf, do you think the Chief will talk to us? And what's his name?”

“His name is Chief Black Bear.” Blair smiled as he answered, “He is named for one of the most beautiful creatures in their forest area. I’m named for the other.”

Sandburg guided the agents to the Chief's home. They were expecting something different for a Chief’s home, but it was just that, a home. Just like anyone else’s home.

The three agents stood in the cool spring weather with a chill of the mid-morning without enough sun, waiting as Blair knocked on the front door of the house. In a moment, a very handsome older Native American opened the door. He wasn’t tall, only about 5’ 8” and had gorgeous black and gray long flowing hair. His eyes spoke before he did. He was very happy to see Thundering Wolf.

“Thundering Wolf,” Chief Black Bear said smiling, “we are all glad that nothing has happened to you. We heard about the mishap at the motel in town. Who are your friends?”

“Chief Black Bear,” Blair answered, “this is Agent Jim Ellison and Agent Megan Connor. They are the ones that have been a big help and have decided to look into this land lease problem. You can trust them Chief.”

The Chief opened the door wide and said, “Please enter my home. It is your home too. You will always be welcome here. Anyone that saves the life of our Thundering Wolf won’t be forgotten at any time.”

All four walked into the house and Connor and Ellison just stood in one place and looked around. 

On his walls he had Native American artwork and blankets. He had a lot of Black Bear items all over the rooms and in some those howling wolves that looked just beautiful. All of the walls were painted in a pleasing soft shade that when the sun hit them, they glowed. Anyone would be very comfortable here. You could tell this man, was exactly as his home was. 

“Chief, I need to ask a favor,” Sandburg said, “I need the lease papers so I can take copies for us to read up on and figure out what is going on here.”

He said, “Thundering Wolf, I worry for your safety, you must promise that you’ll leave as soon as I give you what you want. You must promise me.”

“Chief, I can’t do that,” Thundering Wolf said, “I have to find out who is doing this before someone gets hurt or killed. There has to be a good reason for wanting the lease to the land, but we just don’t know why. Chief, do you know?”

The Chief smiled at his young friend and said, “Thundering Wolf, you are exactly as your name is. Always thundering. Sometimes it is time to step back and let someone else do the work. You are my family, and I’d hate to see you hurt because of this land or myself.”

“Chief,” Thundering Wolf said, “I can’t think of a better reason to fight for something than your land, your life or your family. You’ve become like family to me too. I won’t do anything to draw attention to you. I hope you know I’d sooner die that let someone hurt you. But I need to find out what is going on for the people of this land. It’s their right. It’s their home. It’s their life.”

The Chief shook Sandburg’s hand and said, “Thundering Wolf, you are indeed a great man. Some day you shall be written in the history books.” Having said this, he went into his office and got the paperwork that they needed. They all sat down and started reading it.

All of a sudden, Jim jumped up and grabbed the Chief and threw him to the floor as he yelled, “Sandburg and Connor get down, more gun fire coming our way.” And then they all heard the bullets hitting the house. The gunfire went on for a long time before finally, all was silent. Quietly, Jim crept to the window.  
“Is everyone all right?" he asked, glancing back at the others. "Sir, are you all right? Did I hurt you when I threw you to the floor?”

The Chief looked at him and said with awe, “You are one of the chosen, aren’t you? You have the power to help us. I can see this now. Thank you for saving my life, Agent Ellison, but your greatest job still lies to the front. You’ll have to help Thundering Wolf discover who is responsible and bring it to an end."

Jim, Connor and Blair, with guns drawn, checked the outside of the house. Once they were assured they were alone they went back in to see if indeed the Chief was fine.

Then Chief Black Bear told Ellison, Connor and Thundering Wolf a story, the story of the Tall Tree.  
================================================  
Tall Tree 1

There was a tall tree in the forest.  
It stood all alone.  
During a thunderstorm, lightning struck.  
This tree was split halfway from the ground up.  
A wolf stared at it, thinking it was a man.  
When the lightning flashed again, the tree started moving.  
The wolf was not afraid.  
The heart of the wolf was filled with thunder.  
Just as the tall tree became a man;  
The lightning gave this man power.  
The wolf was sent to guide him.  
The Tree and the Wolf walked off together.

Patt  
===========================================

"We know our lands have now become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone." The Chief said.

 

The Agents called the Tribal Peace Officers and told them what was going on. They said, they’d be over in two minutes, so Ellison, Connor and Sandburg did the thing they did best. They tried to figure out what was going on. 

As soon as the Peace Officers arrived, they answered all of their questions and helped the Chief decide where he would be staying. He wouldn’t be safe there that was for sure. The Peace Officers decided that perhaps the Chief would be better off with one of their Officers in a motel room. The chief tried to dissuade them but he couldn’t. Thundering Wolf made him promise that he’d do as they told him to.

The three agents took the paperwork back to the motel. 

When they got there, Connor said, “We need to make copies of this and each keep one in case something happens to the other. We also need to send off some copies to other agencies. At first I thought I was just being paranoid, but now I know why.”

She took the lease papers to the office and the girl in the front told her to help herself making copies. So, Connor did just that. She made 12 copies. She didn’t know why. Just knew they needed to get some spread around. She also realized that she was scared. This wasn’t just a case of let's get Sandburg out of here. This was becoming messier and messier and time went on. The only thing that kept her spirits up was the fact that between the three of them, they might figure out something. 

 

When she got back to the room, Jim was in the shower. 

"Your copies, Sandburg," she said. "Where do you want to keep them?"

“I don’t have a clue, Connor," he said. "It’s not like I have any friends here. I might be half Native American, but I am still half white man, so I wasn’t really ever trusted. I’ll think on it for awhile and see if I can come up with something.”

Jim walked out of the bathroom in jeans, drying his upper body off with a towel.  
Sandburg tried not to stare, but didn’t do a very good job of it. Connor found herself staring too. 

“What's with you two?" Jim asked. "You both act like you’ve never seen a man with his shirt off before.” 

"Hardly," Connor said dryly. But Jim could smell the arousal on Sandburg.  
Maybe, Jim thought, I should talk to him about it later.

"We need to figure out where to keep the copies," Connor said. "Obviously, we don't want them all in one place."

"I say we mail them off," said Jim. Ellison had chosen to send his letters to his father in Cascade, his good friend Simon Banks in Cascade and his brother Stephen in Cascade. Connor had decided to send hers to her brother that lived in Texas and two friends that lived in Seattle. Sandburg had decided to send one to his Mother of course, and the other two to friends that lived in Seattle.  
They all sat quietly writing their letters and addressing the envelopes. When they were done, they had nine ready to go.

"Connor, you stay here with Sandburg, and I'll go mail them at the post office, here on the reservation," Jim said. "It shouldn’t take me longer than fifteen minutes, if it does, be on your toes. You can’t leave until I get back. We need someone watching all the time.”

Hurrying, Jim headed to the reservation post office, automatically checking his mirrors. There was nothing but a truck behind him, but the truck was continuing to make his same turns. He sped up, hoping he could lose the vehicle behind him with his driving, and he did. There was no sign of the car as he mailed the letters off.

He started driving back to the motel and saw the truck that was following him earlier that day. He sped up but the passenger of that car, a white man, started shooting at his tires. 

One tire was hit and blew and the car overturned. Just as Jim was crawling from the wrecked car, it exploded. The men in the truck couldn’t have seen Jim crawl to safety, so they had no idea that Jim was still alive. 

The driver looked at the passenger and said, “So one down, two more to go. Not bad. The boss will be pleased, don’t you think?”

“Most definitely,” said the passenger, “we might be able to get this all cleared up sooner than we thought.”

Worried about Sandburg and Connor, Jim got up, tried to head back. He wasn’t that far from them on foot but he was very dizzy. Jim tried to keep his balance as he felt for the cell phone in his jacket. Thank god it was there, he thought; he usually kept it on the front seat of his car. 

"Sandburg," he said, when the other agent had answered, "I've been in an accident. I’m fifteen minutes from you and I need you and Connor to come and pick me up. You can’t miss it. My car is the upside down blown up mess on the side of the road. And I’d walk except I think I might have a concussion.”

“Shit, Jim,” Blair cried out, “I don’t want you moving, just sit somewhere and take it easy and we’ll be there soon. Give us about ten minutes. And you don’t have to tell us, we’ll be careful.”

"Good," said Jim, "because even if they think they've killed me, they'll still be after the two of you, Sandburg. And agency guys don't usually miss this much."

As he got off the phone, he realized he had called the agent by his first name. He wondered if Jim had noticed. Connor walked into the room carrying a soda for each of them, and Blair said, “Jim just called and has been in a terrible accident. We need to find him, fast. They might think they killed him and they may be coming here to take care of us next.”

Connor was stunned but moved quickly, grabbing her weapons and ammo. "We've got to get a car," she said.

Sandburg went into the office and asked the woman up front if she could borrow her car to go and see Chief Black Bear. She handed her keys over to the man she knew as Thundering Wolf and they were off.

Connor looked over at Sandburg, who was looking extremely stressed. “Sandburg, he’ll be all right," she said. "We’ll get to him and get him right to the clinic. We’ll be sure that nothing is wrong with that gorgeous head of his.” 

She added, “Can I call you Sandy? I like that better than calling you Sandburg.”

“My name is Blair, you can call me Blair.” Sandburg said. “I don’t want you calling me Sandy. It’s not my name.”

“So Sandy, do you like our Agent Ellison?” Connor asked with laughter in her voice. 

“Damn it, don’t call me Sandy and yes, I like him just fine. And since when has he become our Agent Ellison?” replied Blair.

“Sandy, calm down.” Connor said, “It’s okay that you like him. Really. He thinks the world of you too. Not that he wants to. He’s fighting it. Maybe you’ll have to show him his way.”

“You know, Connor, I bet Agent Ellison would love this.” Blair said, “I mean we have no right to discuss the way he feels about anything without him here to stick up for himself. We don’t have a clue as to how he feels. He could be half dead somewhere for all we know. And for all we know, he could hate my guts.”

"You’re so full of shit, Sandy. You know you’re attracted to him.” Connor said, “and he doesn’t hate your guts, I can tell you that much.” After saying this, she shut her mouth and just drove. 

Sandburg looked over at her, brow furrowed. Had Jim said something to her about this? Despite himself, he felt the hope surge within him. Now if they could just get to Jim and be sure that he was all right. 

Connor slowed down when they came upon the car, or more to the point, what was left of the car. Their rental car was turned over, and still burning at this point. It was very warm standing around it. There was a crop of trees not far from the accident, so they went over there to see if Jim had walked and gotten himself a hiding place. 

"Jim!" said Connor, stopping the car. They could hear nothing, not even the sound of the wind in the trees.

"Footprints," Blair said, tugging at Connor's sleeve. "Come on."

About five minutes later, they found Ellison, leaning against a tree, trying to keep his eyes open. 

“Jim, are you all right?" Blair asked, hurrying over to him. "Do you think anything is broken? We’ve got to get you to the hospital, man.”

Jim tried to smile at his worried rescuer. “Nothing's broken, Sandburg," he said, "I just got dizzy from hitting my head. I’m fine. My head hurts pretty badly, but that’s probably to be expected. I want to go back to the hotel.” Jim could not take his eyes off of Sandburg.

Blair said, “Jim, I want you to do something for me. Picture a set of dials in your mind; one for each of your senses. The one for touch is probably set too high and that is causing the headache. We just need you to turn that thing down. Do you want to try it? It can help you tolerate the pain level. Can you see some dials, Jim?”

Jim grunted, closed his eyes for a moment. “Yeah, Sandburg, okay," he said, nodding slowly. "That helped." He opened his eyes, sounded surprised. "The headache is a lot better and I’m not having double vision any longer. Thank you.”

They helped Jim stand up and got him to the car. He looked at the car and said, “Where the hell did you get another car so fast?”

Blair said, “I asked the girl at the motel if we could use it to go and see Chief Black Bear. And she said yes. We figured he would cover for us.”

Jim slept all the way back to the motel. Once there, Connor and Sandburg got him into the room and out of his clothes and into bed. They checked his eyes and his pulse, both seeming to be fine. They just sat there, trying to decide what to do next. 

Connor said, “Sandy, chances are they are going to figure out he wasn’t in the car, or they’ll hear that Jim is back here and they’ll come after us. We need to be ready. How much ammo do you have with you?”

Blair got up and grabbed his bag, pulling out four guns and about 30 boxes of ammo. Connor started laughing and said, “What the hell were you doing? Thinking of knocking over a bank or something?”

Blair smiled back and said, “I knew that I would be alone, with no back up, I like to be prepared. I think for once, I’m glad of this.”

As the sun went down, Connor said, “Sandy, you go ahead and sleep first and I’ll wake you up in five hours and it’ll be my turn. Sleep well.”

“Thanks, Connor.” Blair said yawning, “I only need about four hours. Then your turn.”

He stripped his clothing off right in front of Connor, he knew that they were all stuck in the same room and didn’t want a fuss made about it. She was just another agent, after all. He then crawled into bed next to Jim. When Jim felt him get into bed, he opened his eyes for a moment and smiled and pulled him close to him and fell back to sleep. Blair thought, man, I’m in so much trouble here, as he started falling to sleep.

About two hours later, Jim started waking up and saw Connor watching the two men. He pulled Blair closer in the dark. He knew that Connor would be able to hear, but hopefully not see. He kissed Blair’s neck and started working his way down his chest. Blair woke up and was at first startled, then realized it was Jim and got hard instantly. Jim started working his way down to Blair’s aroused nipples and licked and then began sucking them. By this time Blair was moaning. He said, “Jim, come on, we can’t do this here with Connor right there. Let's wait. I want to do this right.”

Connor heard them talking and said, “Jim, you awake?”

With a smile in his voice, Jim answered, “Yeah, Connor I’m awake. What’s going on?”

She continued, “Well, if you’re going to be awake, I could go take a nice long hot bath. I’ve been wanting to ever since we got here.”

Jim laughed as he answered, “Thanks, Connor, I owe you one.”

She walked into the bathroom and Jim pulled Blair into his arms and they began kissing in earnest. Blair pushed Jim back and as he started kissing his way down Jim’s body, Jim was the one moaning this time. Blair helped Jim get out of his clothing, then he took his own things off and threw them across the room. Blair worked his way down until he was in between Jim’s legs. Jim opened them up willingly. He couldn’t believe how badly he wanted this man. Blair started kissing the insides of his thighs until Jim’s legs opened further. Blair worked his way up this time to his cock and took it into his mouth. God, thought Blair, he tastes so damn good. He could tell that Jim wasn’t going to last long. That was all right, Blair didn’t think he’d last long either. 

Putting his hands on the back of Blair's head, Jim pushed softly, letting Blair know what he wanted. "Yeah," Jim moaned, as Blair sucked hard and deep. Then all of a sudden, Jim said, “Blair, you better move, I’m really close.” But Blair just stayed where he was and continued sucking until Jim yelled out with his orgasm. 

For a moment afterwards, it was quiet, Jim trying to find his way back, stroking Blair's hair. Then he said, "Blair, let me love you now.” 

Blair shook his head and said, “Jim, you aren’t doing that great, let me just do something here. I don’t want you overdoing anything, okay? We can do this up right when the time comes. Just relax okay and let me do my thing.”

Having said this, he moved back down to Jim’s cock again and took it back into his mouth. Jim started to tell him that he needed more time to recover, but just as quickly his cock was filling and he couldn’t even remember a time when he could do it that fast with anyone. Not even when he was younger. Blair flipped around and had his cock by Jim’s mouth, but didn’t let Jim suck him.

Blair took hold of his own cock and started stroking hard. As he did this, he kept sucking off Jim. Jim was so fucking hot just watching Blair do himself and he could tell when Blair was close, he could smell the difference and he quickly put his mouth over Blair’s cock.

Blair came so damn hard he thought he would pass out, yet Jim sucked down all that Blair had to offer. Blair started sucking Jim in earnest now and Jim came for the second time that night. 

Curling up next to Jim, Blair said, “I don’t think this is standard operating procedure. But I have to tell you; I’m in love with you. I never believed in love at first sight, but I do now.” 

Jim smiled when he said; “You know one of us should go let Connor come out and go to sleep. She’s probably tired. I’ll keep the next watch. I’ve had the most sleep. And I'm wide awake now.”

Jim got out of bed, reaching for his boxers and putting them on. He had started towards the bathroom when the door opened a little bit.

“Is it safe to come out?" Connor whispered. "I didn’t want to ruin it for you, but don’t think you’re getting rid of me every night like that.”

“Thank you, Connor. Without you, I wouldn’t have even tried for this.”

She smiled and said, “You are very welcome, but now it's my turn for sleep. I’m exhausted. See you in the morning, Jim.”

Jim smiled to himself. They were both calling him Jim now. Getting his lease paperwork out, he read while he stood guard. He hoped he'd find something that could be useful to all of them. 

Jim was finding all of this interesting reading. Come to find out, it wasn’t the government that wanted the lease; it was a company that dealt with the government. A large company. The Native Americans wouldn’t be happy about leasing their land to, not for any amount of money. Apparently, this company was just using the FBI for a front.

Hmm, that's interesting, Jim thought, glancing at the name of the company's representative. Josh Faskle. Wasn't Josh Faskle the name of the man Jim had met at an agency party? If he recalled correctly, Faskle had been introduced as a good friend of Director Madison's.

Jim got his cell phone out and dialed his director’s home number. In a moment, he heard Madison's voice on the other end of the line.

“Director Madison," said Jim, "this is Agent Ellison. You know the Sandburg case? Well, I've found a few things out and thought you might want me to share with you. I’ve got a name of a person that would want me dead in order to get this lease passed through. And I also have some checking to do today and I’m sure we’ll be able to get the Chief to get a meeting together so that we can discuss this entire thing. We aren’t going to leave until we have found the traitor that turned everyone in. It probably won’t be too hard to do. Is there anything you would like me to pass on to Agent Connor or Sandburg?”

“Very good work, Ellison," said the director. "I hope that you have it all done in the next few days. We really need you back here for another assignment. We’re most impressed with how you are handling this entire case. I have nothing to say to Connor and Sandburg. I’ll see them in a few days." 

“Thank you sir,” Ellison said fallaciously, “I’ll call tomorrow and let you know how everything's going." Hanging up the phone, he looked over at the two sleeping people and wondered if they would all make it out of this alive. He now felt certain that the Director was in on it. Jim hadn’t done a great job; there was no reason for the man to be impressed. But yet he told Jim he was.  
How deep did it go? How far would they take it? How many would they kill for land? He hoped he’d be able to answer all of these good questions.

Jim went back to the task at hand, shaking his head at what lie in front of him. He read every single word in the files and then when he was finished was exhausted. He knew this was not going to be a good time. It might get very messy. He wasn’t looking forward to that. 

Although the tribes people were still trying to clean up the effects from the pollution messes in the 70’s, if this land deal went through, it looked liked it would happen all over again.

As Connor and Sandburg continued to sleep, Jim had lots of time to think, so he was wondering how many things Blair would be able to help him with. He was already able to help him deal with the pain dial. Who would have ever thought of that? And Blair seemed to think that all those dials could be used to help him deal in daily situations. He could be a decent Agent or Police Officer if he knew how to deal with all of this. Thinking about this, he picked up his cell phone again and dialed his good friend, Captain Simon Banks of Cascade Police Department, Major Crimes Division. 

Simon answered, half asleep, “What?”

Jim smiled and said, “Hey Simon, what are you doing besides getting woke up by an almost out-of-work agent?”

“Ellison,” Simon yelled, “do you have any idea how late it is? Or better yet, how early it is?”

“I’m really sorry, Simon,” Jim said, “but I needed to talk to you right now. I have a few things to tell you and knew it had to be now. First, is the offer still open for a job? Because I think I might be leaving the agency.”

Simon said, “Jim, you’ve always had a job with me, you know that. So what's going on and where are you?”

Jim continued, “Okay, we are on the Nisqually Reservation, outside of Olympia. We have become targets of a sort and I don’t know where else to turn. I can’t tell you everything, Simon, but I could use someone I can trust to help us out. Not as a cop, but as a friend.”

“Jim,” Simon said, “I’m glad to help. Someone you can trust. You know I can get some time off and help. I’ll bring a couple of my best men with me. We’ll take a leave of absence. We won’t be on duty at all. No one has to know where we are going. Well, looks like three of us are going on a fishing trip up near Olympia.”

Jim didn’t know how to thank this man enough, so he said, “Simon, I’m really worried that they will kill all of us and no one will know what is going down. I sent a copy of the lease papers to your address. So if anything happens to us, could you please look into it? I know it wouldn’t be easy.”

Simon answered, “No, I won’t look into it. Instead tell me where you are and we’ll be there in a few hours depending on how far away it is. What do you say, Jim?”

Jim said, “Simon, you could be hurt with this. I don’t want anything to happen to you, Daryl would never forgive me.”

Simon wasn’t going to take no for an answer. 

Jim said, “If you insist on it, we’re on the Nisqually Reservation, outside of Olympia, WA. I’ll get a room for you. How many people will be coming? Oh, and in case you don’t know, I don’t have enough firepower for anyone else. I barely brought enough for myself. Each of you get permission to carry guns on the plane, and we can buy ammo in town. This could get ugly."

Simon said, “Meet us at the airport as soon as possible. In fact, let me have your cell phone number and I’ll call and let you know when we will be flying in.”

Jim said, “It’s 555-1247. Now I have another favor to ask. I have two other Agents that might be in need of work if the shit hits the fan. And want to know that I can promise them a place to go. One is Agent Megan Connor and the other is Agent Blair Sandburg.”

Simon said, “Jim, I’ll talk to the Chief of Police about finding spots for all of you. We do have those programs that allow Agents from FBI and CIA to come into the Police Force without the academy. I’ll talk to you soon.”

The phone rang in about 20 minutes and Jim answered, “Ellison.”

“Ellison,” Simon said, “Just wanted you to know that there will be three of us. Get us one room with two beds, which would be fine. Henry Brown and Joel Taggert will be coming with me - I think you know both of them. We'll be at the Olympia Airport in two hours, so stay alive and let me live to regret this, okay?”

“Thanks, Simon,” Jim said, “I can’t believe we’ll actually have some help here. We haven’t gotten much sleep lately. You will never know how much we appreciate this.”

“See you in two hours, Jim.” Simon said, “Stay safe.”

Finally, Jim thought, some kind of future to contemplate. It had been a long time since he had felt good about where he was headed. Now, if he could just talk Blair into going to the Cascade PD with him. He knew that he was in love with the man and didn’t even know what to do with that feeling. He and Sandburg had a lot of things to discuss when they got some time to themselves. 

 

Jim glanced at the clock - they really needed to get going. Touching Blair's shoulder, he said, "Hey, Sandburg. Time to get up."

“What’s wrong, Jim?" Blair asked immediately. "I know you know something.”

Jim said, “Sandburg, wait until we are all together and we’ll all know at the same time. Come on, get up and take a shower and Connor can go next.”

Blair just gave him an odd look and said, “Jim, wake Connor up now and come in with me. Save some energy. We can shower together.”

“Not a chance, Sandburg.” Jim replied smiling, “later on we’ll pick things up where they left off.”

Trying not to pout, Blair went in to take his shower alone. Talking sentinel soft the whole time making Jim hard just hearing what he was doing to himself. 

When Blair came walking out of the bathroom, Jim woke Connor up telling her she needed to shower so they could get ready to go.

“Damn it,” Connor said,” I hate sharing a room with the two of you. Bossy as hell and I want my own bathroom.” Still muttering to herself, she shut the door and got into the shower. Jim smiled at what she was saying.

Blair finished getting dressed and loaded his guns and got extra ammo out and got ready. 

Once Connor got out, Jim took his turn. He made it the fastest shower in history so he could get out and explain what was going on to the two agents.  
As he came walking out of the bathroom, Connor and Sandburg were sitting on the bed waiting to have this explained to them. He told them all about what he had read all night long, what he had found in the lease papers, why there was so many problems and why they needed some help. He then explained about Simon, who he was and who he was bringing with him to help.

“So we need to go to Olympia,” Jim said, “pick up Simon, Brown and Taggert and bring them back.”

“Jim,” Blair said, “I can’t go to Olympia with you and Connor. Someone has to stay with Chief Black Bear and I’d like it to be me. Something is going on and I don’t want him to be injured in the crossfire.”

Jim glared at Blair as he thought, I hate when you get all logical on me, Sandburg. 

“It makes sense that we can’t leave the Chief without anyone with him.” Jim said aloud. 

“After the accident on the highway, I don’t really want just one of us going alone. But I also don’t like leaving you here alone.”

“I like you too," Blair said. "But things will work out just fine. You two can drop me off at the Chiefs and I’ll hang out with him all day and we’ll go to the meeting that is planned for today. But don’t waste any time getting back.”  
Connor didn’t like the idea of them being separated either, but had no better ideas. She got her things and took them out to the car.

Seeing his only moment of opportunity to kiss Blair without someone around, he bent down and kissed Blair with such passion, that it made last night seem like nothing. Blair brought his arms up around Jim’s neck and said, “Jim swear to me you’ll come back. Promise me that you’ll keep Connor alive and you’ll both come back.”

Then the kissing was done and Jim was just holding on to Blair for dear life.

Connor said, “Move over tough guy, I need some of this man too. Sandy, I’ll take care of him and he’ll take care of me. We’ll watch each other’s backs. I promise to come back. And I don’t make promises lightly. And you have to give your word that you’ll take good care of the Chief. he is an exceptional man. I really like him. I’d hate to see anything happen to either of you.” 

They went out to the car, which was owned by Margaret in the front office. She told Connor and Ellison she’d drive them into town so they could pick up a new vehicle. 

She had become very friendly to Connor and Ellison since she found out that they were friends of Chief Black Bear’s. She already knew of Thundering Wolf.

They went over to the Chief’s house to drop Blair off and Jim got out and went in to talk to the Chief. 

Jim said, “Chief Black Bear, we have to get some reinforcements, but until then I am entrusting your welfare into Thundering Wolf’s hands. He is more than able to take care of you. Please take precautions when you leave the house, or when you’re at the meetings. That’s all I'm asking. Take very good care of my partner too, sir.”

The Chief smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Sentinel, we shall watch each other. And the white men don’t know that there are two Sentinels that they will have to deal with.

They shook hands and the chief said something very soft to Jim, which made Jim smile. Jim turned and kissed Blair right in front of the Chief. He whispered, “He already knows, he sees my mark on you, even if no one else can.”

Blair said, “Jim, please be careful and come back as fast as you can. Be safe.”

As Jim was walking out the door, Jim heard Blair say sentinel soft, “I love you.” Making Jim hurt inside and want to hustle and get right back. 

Jim got into the backseat of the car and let Connor sit up front with Margaret. She knew he was upset if he was letting her sit up front. Okay, she thought to herself, I can do this. He’s going to be all right. We’re going to be all right also. She glanced back at Jim and saw the wall come up. He was trying to be all tough and cool. But Connor knew better. She could see right through him. 

Connor found herself liking Ellison more every single day. He was a really tough and good agent, but also a really good friend and man. She could understand what Sandy saw in him.

They got on the highway and were very alert, because after all, this was not going to be a fun trip. They expected trouble. In fact they really hoped that the trouble would come their way instead of Blair’s. 

 

Connor finally broke the silence when they arrived and said, “Ellison, Why don’t you go and get us the new rental car? I’ll unload our things here and let Margaret be on her way.”

Once Margaret was gone, and they were alone, Connor said, “Jim, do you swear that you can trust these men?”

Jim responded, “Connor, I swear on my own life. Simon is a great man, Police Captain and my friend. As far as Henry Brown and Joel Taggert, well, I don’t know them as well. But if they signed up, they’re true friends of Simon’s. They wouldn’t want Simon to go somewhere by himself and deal with it on his own. Especially when Simon doesn’t know what he’s up against. Remember that they aren’t on duty, they are on vacation”

As they drove into the parking lot, they found a spot for their new rental, parked, got out and headed into the airport. Jim would be relieved when this was over. He knew he needed to get back to the Chief and Blair as soon as possible. 

Back on the reservation, Thundering Wolf and Chief Black Bear found themselves in the middle of an argument at the meeting. There were about 20 supporters of the cause. Their cause was wealth; they didn’t want to give it up. They wanted to know why the Chief was letting the Government Agent make all of his decisions. 

 

===========================  
Chief Black Bear

His people’s sadness overwhelmed him.  
He hears it all.  
He sees everything.  
Wishing he could shut it off.  
This power can either be a blessing.  
Or it can be a curse.

Patt  
==========================

 

Finally Chief Black Bear stood up and said, “I’ve had enough of this noise. We’ll begin talking about the facts now, instead of the white man's idea of truth. Once we were told lies and almost lost every one of our people, land and food. Does anyone want to do this yet again? Thundering Wolf may not be full blooded Indian, but he is a seeker of honesty and truth. This I see in him. He came to me in my dreams. He is here opposed to the white man. They look for him now. Harm has been done to his friend who tried to help us. We must start at the foundation of our story and when I have ended, we will come to a decision as to what is true or false. This is what we shall have to live with for the rest of our days.”

“The white man’s industry had money to pay off all of the government causes," Chief Black Bear continued. "They are the ones that destroyed our land. Our lakes were tainted until they had no more salmon. Our soil was contaminated until nothing would grow. The white man poisoned our land, our families, and our existence. We shouldn’t have to do this on one occasion more. When the government stepped in, they had to replenish the lakes after the pollution was cleaned up. They planted more trees, and guaranteed that they wouldn’t be sold or chopped down. We had no crops to speak of because of the harmful soil. It took about fifteen years to get the soil back in shape and we have still found cases of water contamination on the reservation. So, it just shows you how long this could persist. That was in 1970. Now the white man wants to lease that same land again. They want to use it for other things, they state. But the FBI has connections with the company that makes the poison that was put in our land. We mustn’t let this happen. We need to stop it without hesitation.” 

The people at the meeting were all talking very seriously at this point. They were told to think about this issue and it would be discussed the next day at the conference. 

 

At the airport, Jim and Connor watched three men walked through the gate. Jim smiled as Simon approached. 

“Thank you for coming, Simon.” Jim said as he shook his hand. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

Simon said, “Jim, you have always been there for me, why would it be any less for me standing by you? You remember Detectives Brown and Taggert?”

Jim held out his hand as he said, “Yes, I remember you both. Thank you for coming. This is my partner, Agent Connor. Connor, this is Simon Banks, Henry Brown and Joel Taggert.”

Connor stepped up and shook hands with all three men. “It’s a great honor to meet all of you," she said. "Jim has been telling me all about you, Captain Banks. I’m sure that Jim will be able to think and work easier with you three here.”

Jim turned to Connor and quietly said, “Connor, I think you do just fine, I just felt like we needed reinforcements. Did you feel like I didn’t think you could do the job?”

Connor said, “No, Ellison, that never crossed my mind. I must have said it defensively. I’m sorry. Things will be just fine. Don’t worry about it.”

They all started loading the luggage in Simon’s rental car and Banks said, “Connor and Ellison come here for a minute. I brought each of you a vest, put them on now. We don’t want any problems with this. None.”

“Simon” Jim said, “we already have ours on. You fellows get yours on. We’re a step ahead of you.”

The three men went out to the car and put their bags in the trunk and put their vests on.

Next stop was the gun shop in town. They needed ammo. The airlines might not have allowed them to bring a bunch of weapons in their luggage, but they allowed them each their own weapon, unloaded to carry on board. But they had no ammo. Ellison and Connor needed a lot also. They finished the shopping as quickly as they could. They needed to get back to the reservation. 

Simon handed Jim and Connor a two-way radio. He said, “It’s on the channel we need to all be on. You can talk to us from your car to ours. This way we stay in contact at all times. Now, it is time to get this show on the road, gentleman and lady.”

Connor and Ellison got in their car and started the drive back. Jim kept Simon’s car in view at all times. 

 

The Chief and Thundering Wolf were on their way back to the Chief's home when a truck came around the corner. The Chief tried to push Sandburg out of the way, but Thundering Wolf, pushed the Chief down, lying across him to protect his body. He pulled his gun out, and just in time. The truck came closer and guns were pulled out. Sandburg got up and aimed and started shooting.

He hit the tires first, and then he hit the driver and then one of the passengers. He knew he was a good shot, but he had never really ever used his gun for the job before. Although Ellison and Connor didn't know this, Sandburg was a profiler. 

He rarely had to go anywhere that there was need for a weapon. He was a nervous wreck, but felt pumped at the same time. He walked over to the truck and told them all to get out. The driver was dead. Sandburg had hit him right in the heart. Sandburg didn’t recognize any of the men. The other two got out. One was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his arm. Blair made them get up against the truck and patted them down. Then taking cuffs out, he put them on each of the two men. He read them their rights and told them not to say a word. Blair pulled out his cell phone and called the Reservation Peace Officers. 

They came as soon as he called. Sandburg asked them to not let anyone in to talk to them. No one. He wanted Jim and Captain Banks to be the first to talk to them. 

Sandburg had helped Chief Black Bear up and now he was leading him to his car so they could go home. The Chief said, “Thundering Wolf, your heart is beating way too hard. You have to take some calming breaths. It’ll help. Just relax here for a moment." Then Blair said, “You’re a Sentinel too, aren’t you?”

The Chief touched Sandburg’s cheek and said, “You are a very wise man, but an even better Guide. You’ll be a Guide that won’t be forgotten to Tall Tree. You worry about being a good guide to him, but you need not worry, little wolf. You were prepared from a very young age. We all knew you had the gift for Guiding. You weren’t my Guide, but I knew you would belong to a Sentinel some day.” 

“Thundering Wolf, did you ever wonder why your Mother and I talked you into going into the area of FBI that you are in? We knew that you would be a great profiler and at the same time have time for studying up on Sentinels. You have done us proud little one. We needed someone to watch out for our rights and our land also. The reason was two-fold.” 

This seemed to calm Blair down a little. They were driving to the house when he saw Jim drive up at the same time, and then he saw the car behind him. Everyone piled out of the car. Blair knew that he couldn’t just run into his friend’s arms now. So he was content with smiling and saying, “Glad to see you partner. We were concerned.”

Jim saw the blood on Blair’s arm and said, “Are you okay, Sandburg? Are you or the Chief hurt?”

Blair smiled as he answered, “We are both fine. This isn’t my blood. We have two suspects in custody, but I have a feeling they won’t be there long, if Madison finds out, he’ll be pulling them out of there just as fast as we put them in. We need to watch them around the clock. We need to find out where this starts and where it’s going to end.”

Jim picked up his cell phone and dialed Washington. He asked for a director friend of his and explained what was going on. He went into great detail. Telling him things that he might not have wanted to, but knew that there were way too many lives in danger here. 

"Wait with the prisoners," Director Davis said. "Don’t let them talk to anyone and by all means, don’t have contact with the Bureau, other than me and my own men."

Jim assured him that Connor, Sandburg, the Tribal Peace Officers and himself would be on their toes until they got there.

Blair walked over to Simon, held his arm out and said, “You must be Captain Banks, very good to meet you sir. I’m Thundering Wolf, or as you might have heard of me as, Agent Sandburg.”

Jim said, “Sorry Sandburg. This is Detective Brown and Taggert. They’ll be here watching our backs also. Chief Black Bear, this is Captain Simon Banks, he is from the Cascade Police Department. We needed someone we could trust and I didn’t know whom to call.”

The Chief smiled and said to Simon, “Captain Banks, you must be a good friend indeed. Our Agent Ellison doesn’t trust easily. I feel confident in his choice in protector of our land, our people and our laws. Thank you for coming.”

Simon smiled as he said, “Chief Black Bear, this is an honor to meet you. I have heard great things about you and about what you plan to do for your people.”

Connor said, “Ellison, why don’t you take the Chief and Sandburg back to the Chief’s home? I’ll take these gentlemen to the jail and we’ll see what those hired guns have to say.”

Ellison smiled at her and said, “Thanks, Connor, we’ll meet you over there as soon as I get someone on guard for the Chief.”

Jim, Blair and the Chief got into the car and Ellison said, “Chief, how did the meeting go? Were you able to persuade them to see the error of their ways?”

“I’m sorry to say, no.” The Chief said sadly. “They believe the lies spoken by a few of the ones that are here to make money. They don’t care about the land; money is the only thing they can see. I weep for my people at night. They are changing too much and too fast. Soon they will be as the white man, not trusting anyone and taking what he or she wants, whenever they want it. Please forgive me for insulting you, Agent Ellison, but this is the way of the world.”

Sandburg said, “I’m so sorry Chief Black Bear. I had really hoped that there was no one in the tribe that would have turned on his or her own people. But I have seen that all races are alike. There are good and bad everywhere.”

“This is very true,” Chief Black Bear said, “It is just enough to make a man weep for his lost tribe, life, and homeland.”

Arriving at Chief Black Bear's house, Jim pulled out his cell phone and put in a call to Running Elk, a Reservation Peace Officer that he had met, and asked him to send someone over to guard the chief.

When he was done, Jim watched Sandburg as he went into the kitchen to get everyone something to drink. 

“Sentinel, go to him," said the Chief. "He awaits the feel of your arms to let him know you are really here.”

Jim smiled at the Chief, and then walked through the kitchen door. Moving up behind Blair, he put his arms around him, pulled back his hair, kissed the back of his neck. Blair turned to him and hugged him very powerfully. 

Jim said, “Blair, I missed you and I was so afraid that I’d come back and you wouldn’t be here anymore.”

Blair said, “Jim, you make me feel like no one ever has before. You’ve given me more confidence than I ever thought I had within me. I had to shoot my gun today and I killed someone for the first time. I don’t feel good about it, but I also know that I can handle it.”

Jim pulled him as close as possible, and just held him.  
Blair, absorbing the closeness and love that Jim was pouring into that hug, just held him back.

Then Jim pulled away from him and said, “I have officers on their way over. We need to get back out there and do our jobs. We’ll talk tonight at the motel.”

The Chief was apparently sound asleep on the sofa, but when Jim covered him with a blanket, he touched Jim's hand and said, "Sentinel, take very good care of your Guide. There are as few Guides as there are Sentinels.”

Jim said quietly, "I will."

The Chief closed his eyes and went to sleep again.  
When the Reservation Peace Officers got there, the introductions were made and Jim and Blair left the Chief in their capable hands. They knew they needed to get over to the jail and see about questioning the two men. 

When they got into the front seat of the car, Jim leaned over and did Blair’s seatbelt and kissed him quickly. He said, “I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me. I’m glad you’re all right.”

Blair just smiled as Jim started driving off. Blair knew that he was going to have his hands full with this man - not that that was a bad thing. He found himself glancing at Jim, and realized he had never been in love before. This would be his first and hopefully his last time.

 

Some twenty people from the earlier meeting were crowded around the jail, and when Jim and Blair approached, they gathered around them, full of questions.

"What's going on?" one woman demanded.

"Will you be at the meeting tonight?" someone else asked Blair.

“I plan on making it," Blair said. "I want everyone to know the truth, and if I've got the papers, you might be more willing to trust me.”

An agency car pulled up in front of the jail and four men got out of it. One of the men was Jim’s boss, Director Madison. He said, “Agent Ellison, I need to talk to you in private, a matter of utmost importance.” He turned and walked into the building, expecting Jim to follow. When he didn’t, Director Madison came back out and said, “Agent Ellison, did you not understand what I just said?”

“Yes, I understood," said Jim. "But you can’t make me do anything. This entire inquiry is being investigated. The top people have been called in and they're on their way now. They have told me to say nothing to you or anyone else. You’re not allowed to see the prisoners.” And with this said, he turned and walked into the building.

Simon, Brown, and Joel blocked the FBI’s entrance when they tried to follow Ellison. They shut the door and locked it. 

Turning to his men and Connor, Simon said, “This is going to get messy, I can feel it. I don't think that man would have any compunction whatsoever about turning on Jim, and he still might even with the proper authorities alerted. We have to be sure Jim is safe and the men in custody stay that way. Alive and talking.”

Everyone took up their posts, ready no matter the time or effort involved.

Jim asked the Peace Officers that were on duty, how much ammo and what types of guns they had at their disposal. 

The first Officer introduced himself as Fast Elk. “We all have our revolvers," he said. "Twenty shotguns with about a week's worth of ammo, ten rifles with enough ammo for another week and last, but not least, we have enough ammo for our service revolvers to last another week. So basically, Agent Ellison, to protect our tribe, our Chief, we’ll do whatever you say. And we are prepared. We all know how to shoot well. You don't have to worry about back-up.”

Jim was very impressed as he asked, “Do you always keep it this stocked up? Or were you expecting something?”

Fast Elk said, “We have always expected it. We have seen this before. They come with their smooth talk and lies and take advantage of our people. I refuse to be left in the dirt this time.”

The second Officer introduced himself as Detective Grant Stone. He said, “Agent Ellison, I think I should go over and pick the Chief up and bring him here, it would be safer. We have a room with a bed, so he can rest when he needs to. I don’t want to tell you what to do, I just worry about our Chief.”

Jim nodded. "Call the two men with him right now tell them Detective Brown and Taggert will be over to pick up the Chief," he said. "Tell them to be extra cautious.

Walking out front, Jim asked Brown and Taggert if they would get the Chief. They got their weapons ready and left the building without saying a word.

Sandburg went to the front and stood guard with Captain Banks and Agent Connor. Jim, Fast Elk, and Detective Grant Stone went to talk to the prisoners.

The two men were pacing the room when they got there. Jim turned to Fast Elk and said, “Do you believe in the story of Sentinels?”

Fast Elk said, “Of course we do. Our chief is one, you know of this. He has told us, you know.”

Jim continued, “I need you to go in there and ask them all the questions you think we need answered. Then act all upset when they don’t answer, and trust me, I will be able to hear what they discuss when you two come out. I don’t want them to see me yet. We might be able to get a foot in the door.”

Fast Elk, looked at him strangely, but said, “Whatever you say, Agent Ellison.”

The two men walked into the room and asked the suspects who they were. Who had hired them and why were they trying to kill Agent Sandburg or Chief Black Bear? They asked all of these knowing they would get no answer. Then the two men left the men to think on these questions and they walked out of the room. 

They all watched them through the little piece of glass in the door. They could hear no sound from them at all. But both Fast Elk and Detective Stone watched as Jim concentrated on the voices he was hearing in the room. Every now and then he would smile and then Jim said, “Okay, now I get to go in.”

Fast Elk handed him a tape recorder and said, “Tape it for us, please.”

Jim nodded and took it as he entered the room; he turned the machine on and put it in his pocket. He smiled at the men and said, “Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Agent Jim Ellison, I’ve been sent here by Director Madison. You aren’t to talk to anyone else, is this understood? At least for right now.”

They both shook their heads yes. The first one stuck his hand out shook and said, “I’m Agent Devin Maylor and this is my partner Agent Marcus Jones.”

Jim shook both of their hands and said, “We need to know what the hell you were thinking trying this in broad daylight. You’re both going to have to answer to someone about this.”

Agent Jones said, “We don’t have to do any such thing. We were told to take the agent out, and that’s what we were doing. Madison told us to do it in the daytime. We were only following orders.”

Agent Maylor said, “Is he going to try and say he isn’t behind this now? He hired us to stop this rogue agent that was supposedly a safety hazard to the reservation and the people. We were only doing our jobs.”

Jim just sat down and smiled and said, “Well, gentlemen, I don’t know how to tell you this, but Director Madison has indeed decided to say he had nothing to do with it. So you are basically left out to dry.”

Agent Jones said, “Well, we’ll cut a deal then. We were after all just doing our jobs. Just like you’re doing yours.”

Jim pulled the tablet out from underneath his jacket and asked them if they wanted to write up their statements. Seeing they had no choice, they both wrote them up, explaining in great detail why they were hired, what the Agency was trying to protect and anything else they could think of.  
Jim came out of the room, smiling. 

“I can’t believe you talked them into writing out statements," said Detective Stone. "I sure wish we could make copies and hand them out at the meeting tonight?”  
Jim said, “We can’t. I can’t play the recording, and I can’t show them copies of that before they have been officially charged and processed. Their scumbag attorney will no doubt want some of this, so we have to be very careful. I’m sorry for that.

Sandburg asked Jim if he could talk to him. They went into one of the interrogation rooms and shut the door. “I don’t know how important this is,” Blair said, “but while I was guarding the Chief, he told me two pieces of information I feel I should share with you. First, he is a sentinel, and secondly, I am his grandson.”

“I knew about the Sentinel part, Sandburg,” Jim said, “Why didn’t anyone tell this before now? And if the Chief knows, who else knows?”

Blair answered, “Chief Black Bear thinks that Director Madison knows, because the Chief has my name on all of his official documents. If something were to happen to him, I would be his legal heir.”

Jim asked, “The Chief has no children?”

“He had one son," said Blair, his face drawn. "He was a drunk, and... well… not a very nice person, to say the least. He forced himself on my mother, Naomi, when she was living on the reservation. She went to the Chief and told him why she was leaving. He tried to talk her out of it, but would not listen. The Chief knew of her pregnancy and tried to talk her into coming to live on the reservation, but Naomi would go nowhere near my father. Four months after I was born, Naomi got word from the Chief that his son had died in a car accident. So Naomi moved to the reservation until I was four. From then on I was sent to spend a month of every summer with Chief Black Bear until I was eighteen. Even when I turned eighteen, I still continued to come spend a week or two each summer."

Jim pulled Blair into his arms and said, “I’m so sorry, Blair. I wish things could have worked out differently for you. I wish you could have had a father to spend time with.” One as decent as his son, Jim was thinking. “It is something I will always regret about my relationship with my father. We seldom talk. We don’t even really see each other but once a year and live in the same city.”

Blair said, “I think it must be sadder for you. Your dad is here. He is strong and healthy and you still don’t talk to him. You still don’t see him. Promise me that you’ll try to fix that when we get back.”

Jim quickly answered, “I promise, Thundering Wolf.”

“I’m very close to Chief Black Bear," said Blair, "and am so glad that we got to spend all the time together that we did. And now I realize that he might be part of the reason that I went into the Sentinel field study. I probably knew all along that he was gifted, but I just didn’t know what to call it then.”

The two men separated as Jim said, “Blair I’m going to call and check on our back-up. Brown and Taggert should be here soon with The Chief.”

As Brown and Taggert pulled up to the Chief’s house, they jumped out and hurried the man into a bulletproof vest and got him into their car. The Peace Officers said they would follow them and draw any unfriendly fire. One of the officers said, “Take off right now and we will slow anyone down that decides to follow you.”

The two Peace Officers pulled their car into a spin and came to park sideways on the road and blocked it. The hired guns from the agency were coming up on these men. But they held their ground.

The Chief was sitting in the back seat of the car and said, “Could you please tell those officers to get out of there, those Agents intend on killing them?”

Brown looked at the Chief with great sadness in his eyes and said, “Chief Black Bear, they already knew that. They thought your life was much more important and wanted you to be safe.”

This angered the Chief as he said, “Why should any of us be of any more importance than the next man? Now two good, caring and kind men will die because of me.”

“You can’t be blamed for this, Chief,” Taggert said very softly and sadly, “these men will have to be held accountable.”

“Chief, are you all right?” Brown asked seeing the grief stricken look on the Chief’s face.

Shaking his head, the Chief said, “I’ll never be all right again. No Chief should ever have to listen to his people die.” 

Both men in the front seat had no idea how the Chief knew, but they didn’t doubt that two brave men had just died for their leader.

Brown pulled up to the front of the jail. Knowing that the Federal agents were close behind, he and Taggert jumped out and escorted Chief Black Bear inside the building.

Detective Stone came up and asked the Chief to please come with him so they could get him to a safe place with Agent Sandburg. It seemed that both of their lives were in jeopardy now. As the Chief walked into the windowless room that they had found for them to stay, he said to Thundering Wolf, “Little Wolf, we need to pray for our people, our land, and our friends. Things are not going as I had hoped they would.”

Blair sat cross-legged on the floor and they both began to chant. No one could understand what was being said, but knew the meaning. It was a death chant, followed by a battle chant. 

Jim walked up to everyone and said, “We need to try to stay alert and not let anyone get close to this building. It won’t take but one man, and one grenade, and that would be the end of us.”

Ellison then informed everyone of the fact that Chief Black Bear and Sandburg were related and that the government wanted them both dead. Jim said, “The big corporation can’t afford to have this lease turned down for any reason, so they need to get both Sandburg and the Chief out of their way. And they all know that Sandburg and Chief Black Bear will never give in to their ideas. We have to guard them at all costs.”

Connor said, “Ellison, don’t you worry, we will all guard them with out lives. They will both be safe.”

==========================  
Thundering Wolf

The Storm brings wind and rain.  
The thunder comes before the lightning.  
The wolf stands in the clearing.  
He looks up and sees the lightning getting closer.  
He doesn’t move from his spot.  
It’s his destiny.  
He waits for the power to fill him.

Patt  
========================

 

  
Jim tried his cell phone again to check on the reinforcements, but the phones still weren’t working. Jim headed towards the room with no windows to see how the Chief and Sandburg were doing. He knocked on the door and told Sandburg to open up. Opening the door, Blair smiled at Jim and Jim went into the room. He said, “We need to make sure you are ready. We notice there are more and more agents coming and they all seem to be against us, so if anything happens to us, you have to be sure and try to survive.”

Blair shook his head and said, “Jim, you’ll be fine. Stop talking like that, it’s bad karma.”

Even The Chief had to smile along with Jim on that remark.

The Chief said, “Tall Tree, Director Madison doesn’t intend on giving up. He is in far too deeply. He has nothing to lose. But we won’t give up our lives for someone as meaningless as he or his group. My Thundering Wolf has a greater destiny. Those evil people want to poison the air, the water and the land. They won’t be happy until there are none of my people left.”

Jim stood straighter as he said, “Chief Black Bear, I will take my last breath defending you and Thundering Wolf. And I am proud to do this. I believe it is my destiny. Now lock this door and don’t let anyone in but Simon, Stone or me. Understood? ”

Detective Stone stepped into the room as Jim was coming out and handed two shotguns, two rifles and two handguns to Blair and the Chief. "Good luck," he said. "Be well," he said to his chief.

As Detective Stone made his way back to the front to help Connor, Brown and Taggert, Jim and Simon took the prisoners to a much safer part of the building. They had to have those men both alive.

Hearing more federal cars drive up, Jim listened to hear what they were planning. He turned to Detective Stone, who was heading his way, and said, “Do you have any gas masks? We're all going to need them soon."

Detective Stone said, “We had to have a bunch of them for a training exercise about six months ago, and they're all in the locked cabinet downstairs. I’ll go get them.” When he returned, Stone handed Jim three to take to Simon, and the prisoners. 

“Do you always keep this much ammo, vests, and gas masks?” Jim asked, “at first glance this Reservation looks so peaceful and calm.”

“We just always like to be prepared,” Stone answered, “you never know what is going to happen with the government. We’ve never trusted them at all.”

Jim hurried back to where Simon was and said, “Get ready to have to use these.”  
Simon said, “Thanks Jim. Be careful.”

Detective Stone took the masks to the people that were guarding the front of the building and that left three more for Blair, Jim and the Chief. 

“Sandburg, open up again," Jim said, pounding on the door. "I need to give you some gas masks.”

Blair said, “Jim be really careful with your senses. Turn down all of those dials we have been talking about and trying to figure out. That gas will not be fun for you, even with the mask on.”

Jim smiled and said, “Stop worrying, I’ll be fine. You and the Chief just stay safe. For me, for the tribe for everyone.” Then he leaned down and whispered in Blair’s ear, “I want to talk to you later about how much I love you.”

Blair went into his waiting arms. They stayed like that for a few moments and then Blair pushed Jim away from him. He then pulled Jim's face down and kissed him and whispered back, “I love you too. Now stay safe. Get out of here.”

With an aching heart, Jim left the room. He had finally found his other half of his soul and they might be separated forever. He tried to get his mind off of it as he went back to the front windows.

Abruptly there was a loud crash through the front window and smoke started filling the building. They all put their gas masks on and took up their positions. Jim remembered to turn down his senses. He had learned so much from Blair already in the short time he had been with him. He would never be able to tell him how much that meant to him. 

Jim was looking out the broken window, ready to shoot, when he felt an arm on his shoulder. He turned quickly to see the Chief standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Jim asked, surprised. "You're supposed to be with Thundering Wolf, keeping each other safe.”

Picking up one of the shotguns, the Chief said, "Tall Tree, Thundering Wolf needs to be kept safe. But you and I have an advantage. My place is by your side, saving my people, my land, and our lives. Between you and I, we’ll be able to get a drop on them.”

Jim said, “Chief Black Bear, I will be by your side anytime you want me, you know this.”

Knocking out the broken glass, they took up their positions and got their first targets in sight. Jim and the Chief were like having SWAT right there on the reservation, except that they didn't need all the fancy equipment.

One of the hired guns moved and the Chief didn’t have a second thought as he pulled the trigger. He saw in his mind his two men that died earlier, keeping his mind clear for shooting these men. The shot took out the hired gun, right to the head. Three more men moved in for better shots and Jim and the Chief took all three of them out. 

Brown said to Taggert, “How the hell can they get every single shot perfectly? I mean there is no such thing as good luck.”

Connor said, “What difference does it make, guys, let's just get this thing done with and move on. If you see any movement, don’t hesitate to take them out. They wouldn’t hesitate for a clean shot for you.”

All of the other men came out and Jim could see they all had vests on. He said to the Chief, “Make sure they are head shots.” Nothing more needed to be said, the Chief understood completely.

Director Madison came out holding a gun to a Native American woman’s head. He told them all to put their weapons down or they’d kill one Native every five minutes. Jim looked at the chief and said, “This is your call. We’ll do whatever you want to do.”

The Chief saw the woman make a sign telling him she was ready to do whatever he wanted. So he told Jim, “Take the shot, she is prepared to die as we all are. She knows it is necessary.”

Jim took the shot and his boss was down. The woman was unharmed as she ran for another building.

The Chief said, “Sentinel, the troops are coming. We must keep these men here or my men will have died in vain.”

Jim aimed and shot out the windshields and tires, and then as the men started running he shot them each in the leg and arm so they would not get far. 

The troops consisted of thirty cars full of good agents from the FBI. Jim asked Stone, “Do you have a bull horn? I need to let the man in charge that we are in here and doing well and that we’re the good guys.”

Stone ran and got the bullhorn and handed it to Jim. Jim called out, “Director Davis, this is Agent Jim Ellison. We have our prisoners safe and sound in this building. We want to talk to you, but please don’t come in here with guns waving.”

Director Davis said, “We’re coming in. We’re holstering our guns right now. No need for firearms. You’re safe.”

When they came through the door, Sandburg was heading out to see if he could do anything. One of the agents pulled his weapon and shot Blair and then the Chief. Seeing them both go down, the agent then turned the gun on himself, but not in time. Jim was able to grab the gun and stop him from killing himself. Jim quickly put cuffs on him and handed him over to Detective Stone. The Agents name was Backer. Stone asked, “Why in the world would you do this? There was nothing in it for you?”

Backer said, “Yes, but I knew this was the only way for my family to be safe. Agent Madison is holding them somewhere. Or at least he said this. I couldn’t take the risk.”

“There could never be a good enough reason,” Ellison cried out, “this was just doing your job and blaming someone else for it. You can’t blame someone else. You could have gone to many people and saved your family.”

When Jim turned towards Sandburg and Chief Black Bear, all he saw was the blood. Both men were unconscious. 

Detective Stone said, “Agent Ellison, I just reached the Ambulance on the CB radio that we had in the main office. And the phones will be up soon.”

Jim leaned over and put his handkerchief on the Chief’s wound and pushed to stop the bleeding. He had to keep him safe first. He looked over and saw that Connor and Brown were working on Blair. Jim’s heart felt like it was in his throat. Jim knew that he could not lose it now. He had to stay professional.  
When the ambulance got there, they loaded up both men and took them off to the hospital and said they could call on the CB radio as soon as they had word on their situation. Jim wanted to go with Blair, but he knew he had to stay there with the new Director and fill him in on what was going on. He tried to stop the shaking in his hands. That wasn't something an agent needed to have.  
Simon glanced at Jim and saw the shaking man before him. He knew that something was different about these two men. He felt that they were closer than just partners. This didn’t bother Simon; he was just surprised.

Simon walked up to the new Director and said, “I need to borrow Ellison for a moment or two. We’ll be right back.” He led Jim into a large closet down the hall away from everyone and pushed him in and shut the door and took Jim into his arms. Jim tried to fight him on this but Simon wasn’t having it. Jim absorbed the hug for a few moments and then pulled away. 

Simon said, “I knew the moment I saw you that there was something between the two of you. You were much more than just agents working together. I could see the attraction from the start. There was always something more on the surface and below trying to come out. And I have to tell you; I’m surprised at how professional you have kept this. I’m very proud of you.” After saying this, he handed his handkerchief to Jim to wipe the blood. "You look like you should.”

Jim looked at Simon and said, “I’m in love with him, Simon. I never would have expected that from me. Never. But I love that man more than breathing. I’ve been dying to talk to someone about it.” 

Simon smiled at him and said, “Duh, you think?”

They both had a small smile on their faces as they walked back. 

Connor went up to Jim as he came through the doorway and said, “Partner, you doing all right?”

Jim answered, “Yes, Partner, I’m just fine. Now if we can just get word about the other part of our team, I’ll feel a lot better.”

Connor said, “As soon as you are done with the paperwork, we’ll go and see Sandy. Everything will be fine, Jim.”

The interrogation was going well. Agent Backer, who shot Chief Black Bear and Agent Sandburg, gave up the powerful corporation name and the man behind it. He told them all that they were threatening his family that is why he had to die. He begged them to not tell them the truth until his family was safe. Director Davis called to have the named persons picked up. Things were going smoothly and fast. 

There was a knock at the door and Taggert said, “Captain Banks, Connor just tried her cell phone and it worked so she called the hospital and she dropped the phone and ran into the bathroom. I believe she is in there crying. She won’t answer Brown or myself.”

Jim shoved past Simon and started running for the restroom. He burst through the door and saw Connor sitting on the floor with her legs pulled up against herself. She was crying soundlessly. Jim went down on his knees beside her and she went right into his arms. She said, “Jim, I’m so sorry.” And Jim just sat there rocking Connor as he said, “Oh God no,” over and over again.

Simon came in and sat with them on the floor. Jim was still not crying; he would not do that in front of a group of people. He wasn’t allowed that luxury. He got up and got some wet paper towels and handed them to Connor for her to wash her face with. She did just that and got up off the floor. She told Simon, “Chief Black Bear and Agent Blair Sandburg didn’t make it through surgery.”

The Reservation Peace Officers had tears in their eyes as they turned back to the task at hand. Two more murders of their people. They knew they wouldn’t be allowed into the investigation, but they were going to sure and hell try.

When more FBI Agents and Directors showed up, Ellison, Connor, Brown, Taggert and Banks all made their way over to the hospital. Sadness was filling their thoughts and their hearts, so they didn’t speak a word on the way.

Once there, the woman at the front desk said, “Could you wait and I’ll get the doctor that was on call?”

They all waited until the Doctor came into the room and asked, “ My name is Doctor Barry Lewis, is there a Agent Ellison here?”

Jim said, “It’s very good to meet you, Dr. Lewis. I’m Agent Ellison.”

“Doctor Lewis said, “both patients asked me to give you these things if they didn’t make it. I’m very sorry. They both have been sent to our holding place for the ritual to be performed tonight. This is customary and won’t be questioned by anyone.”

“I’d just like to see their bodies,” Jim said sadly, “It would help all of us, I think.”

Doctor Lewis said, “I’m sorry Agent Ellison, but I can’t do that. It’s against the customs. You must abide by them while on our land.”

There was nothing more they could do, so all of them made their way back to the motel. Connor was very concerned about Ellison. He looked like a man ready to explode. They all got in their cars and started over to the motel. Once there, Connor had to almost help Ellison out of the car. 

As they walked into the room, Connor thought, this has been the longest day of her entire life.

Jim lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. No one knew what to do or say. Connor got on the bed next to him and put her arms around him. Ellison didn’t cry; he just lay there looking at nothing. 

======================================  
Tall Tree 2  
The man, who had been a tree, was lost.  
He had to go back to the forest.  
Without his guide he couldn’t live as a man.  
The storm had not saved his wolf.  
He knew he would be lonely again.  
Standing there he waited for the storm to take him back.  
But the storm passed him by.  
He caught sight of the wolf and started running after him.  
Tall Tree was very confused as he ran towards the sun.

Patt  
===================================== 

 

There was a knock at the door. Simon answered it. It was Detective Stone. He asked, “Could I come in for a moment?”

Simon stood back and said, “Of course, Detective.”

Jim opened his eyes and sat up. He knew something was wrong. Stone informed everyone that the meeting was still on for tonight, and that the head trouble maker was still in charge of the meeting as if the Chief had never existed. He then asked them all, “Do you think you could all come to give me some back up tonight, I have a feeling it isn’t going to be a pretty sight.”

Jim asked, “Why would they still have the meeting? This makes no sense to me? Everything has to go through proper channels. The Corporation heads are all in jail or supposedly, who would be behind this? I have a feeling that we have players that aren’t listed in the program. And I don’t know about you, Stone, but that pisses me off. We lost four really good men, because someone wanted land. No other reason. You can count on me to back you up.”

Brown, Banks, Taggert and Connor all said they would be there, too. Simon then said, “I think we should pay another visit to the cells and talk to these men. I would imagine they might be holding something back.”

They all proceeded out to the cars and back to the jail, hoping beyond hope that they would get something from these men. Even grief stricken, Jim was still one hell of an agent. In his heart he mourned for his new lover, but on the surface he mourned for Chief Black Bear and his people. This would be acceptable.

They arrived at the jail and talked to the first two suspects. The men told them nothing new. They kept saying they had nothing to do with any of that, they were only following orders and that was it. But Jim sensed that one of them was lying, so he said to Simon, “Sir, could you go and pick dinner up for all of us? And maybe Connor, Brown and Taggert could all help you get it all back here.” 

Simon knew what was going down and said, “Sure, Ellison, we’ll be back in about thirty minutes.” Saying this, they all walked out leaving Jim in the room with the two suspects alone.

Jim said smiling, “Did I mention that I have a friend that works in the state prison that will take a phone call from me and he will put you into General Population at least for an hour a day. No matter what, I will make you all pay for my friends' deaths. So, you have about five minutes to make up your mind before I put in a call to them. And don’t think you can talk to anyone about it, because you can’t. Will they believe dirty agents or the agent who saved the people that he could? You think on it. But also think what it will be like to be forced to do blow jobs and get fucked daily. It won’t be pretty. I’ll see you all in about five minutes," he added, turning and walking out the door.

"There must be something wrong with this sound system," said Simon, as Jim approached him. "I didn’t hear a damn word you just said, not a word.”

They all looked through the glass and weren’t surprised to see both of the suspects writing up new statements. Come to find out, the man that ran the corporation had a stroke a few weeks ago. His young wife was taking over his company and wanted this land for her and the company. She was the one paying these Agents. She was also the one who hired to have Blair killed and Chief Black Bear killed. Her name was Mrs. Charles Cason, or Catherine Cason. 

Simon put the call in to have her arrested without bail until they could get there to question her. 

Jim went and talked to the Agent Backer that shot Blair and Chief Black Bear and asked him to at least give him names of any other dirty agents. So he did. He named off four more and told Jim where they could be found. Connor made the calls to have them picked up.

Once this was all taken care of they all went back to the motel to get ready for the arrest of the man behind all this in the tribal meetings. Jim wanted to back up Detective Stone as much as he could. After all, Stone had been very helpful to Jim and everyone. They had all become more like friends than just men working together. Sandburg had a way of bringing folks together and conveying the best in them all. 

Stone, Ellison, Taggert, Banks, Connor, Brown and all of the other tribal Peace Officers on hand went to the meeting and arrested the man that was in charge of this whole thing on the reservation. Stone told everyone to go and get some rest, he would see to it that this man was put in a safe place and kept for their questions later. 

Jim walked into the motel room and picked up the phone and started making phone calls. He tried to get a hold of Naomi Sandburg. He didn’t really know where to start, but the people at the Bureau said they had some ideas. They would try to get a hold of her as soon as possible. Jim asked them to have her call him at the motel if they did get a hold of her. 

Having taken care of that, Jim went in to take a hot shower. He was trying to stay in one piece. Falling apart was not part of his life. It just wasn’t done. He put on his boxers and a tee shirt and got into bed. He curled up on his side and tried not to think of Blair. He couldn’t keep the thoughts away. He kept seeing the smiling face. Those wonderful lips that; begged to be kissed. The warm look that was in his eyes almost all the time. He knew that he would miss this man more than he ever missed anyone in his life.

Jim picked up the telephone and dialed his dad’s number as Connor went into the shower. When his dad answered Jim said, “Dad, I just needed to hear your voice.” 

“Jimmy?" William asked, surprised. "What’s wrong, son? Talk to me.”

Unexpectedly, Jim was speechless. William said, “Jimmy, its okay, son. Just take your time. I’ll just talk to you until you feel like you are up to talking.” So William continued to talk to Jim as Jim tried to control his emotions.  
Connor came out of the bathroom and got on the bed with Jim. She took the phone away from Jim and said, “Who is this?”

“This is Jimmy’s dad, William Ellison," William said. "He called and he can’t seem to talk about what’s wrong. I need to know that Jimmy is all right.”

Connor said, “His partner was killed today. They were very close.”

William asked to talk to Jimmy again, so Connor handed the phone back over to Jim. 

William said, “Jimmy, I know you must have really liked this man.  
I’m truly sorry for your loss. Everyone deserves some happiness in his or her life and God knows you were due. I love you, Jimmy.”

Jim started calming down and said, “I love you too, Dad. Thank you for being here for me. I’m going to get some rest now. I’ll call you when I get home.”

"Call me in the middle of the night if you need to talk," William said. "I’ll be here for you. And promise you’ll come to our house when you get back to town. I think we need to spend some time together. Is that understood?”

Jim smiled and said, “Thank you again, Dad. I’ll see you in a few days. But I’ll call tomorrow. And by the way Dad, his name was Blair Sandburg. You would have liked him a lot." 

William Ellison said, “When you get here, you can tell me all about him. I love you, son. Sleep well, but if you can’t you know my number.”

Jim answered, “Okay, Dad, I’ll go get some rest. I love you, too. Goodnight.”  
Hanging up the phone he fell into Connor's arms and lay very quietly. She just held him tightly, rubbing his back. An hour later he was finally asleep. 

At 3:00 a.m. there was a knock at the door. Jim slept right through it. Connor got up and looked through the peephole. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Sandy. She yanked the door open and took him into her arms. She just kept rocking him saying, “Sandy, Sandy, Sandy.” It sounded as if she were reciting a litany. 

“Sandy,” Connor asked, “Are you all right?”

Blair lifted his shirt up, showing his bandage and answered, “Yeah, I’m doing great, it looks worse than it is. It went straight through and was a clean wound, whatever that means. Chief Black Bear thought until all the people involved were arrested it would be better for us to be dead. I’m sorry we had to do this to any of you.”

Connor went on to tell him about the whole thing and he yawned and said, “Connor, I have to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning. Besides I really want to talk to Jim.”

She said, “Sandy I’m so glad you are all right and you are here with us. Sleep well. Oh before I forget, I wanted to tell you that Jim called his dad tonight and had a nice talk about you. I think he just needed to hear his dad’s voice.”

Blair asked, “Where is Jim?”

Connor pointed to the bed. She said, “I’ll go bunk with the other guys so you’ll have some privacy. 

He walked her out of the room and shut and locked the door. He walked over and could see Jim’s sad face and started getting undressed. He then shut the light out and got into bed. 

In the bed Jim slept soundly, even though he was dreaming. He had no idea what the dream was about. It was upsetting him even so. 

===========================================  
Tall Tree 3  
The Man who used to be a tree ran into the sunshine.  
Looking up he asked the great Sun God, why his wolf was taken from him.  
The Sun God told him that things weren’t always, as they seemed.  
Then he asked the man if he wanted to be a tree forever.  
The Man said he didn’t know what to do without his guide.  
The Sun God told him to look harder and find his wolf.  
Again the Man was confused, but started looking for him.  
An Eagle flew by and told him to see with his heart not his eyes.  
The man opened his heart and let some of the pain out.  
Another Eagle flew by and told him to listen for his guides love.  
The Man heard his love, his life and his guide and wept.  
He knew he never wanted to be a tree again.  
The Man opened his eyes and saw his mate, love, guide and wolf.  
The Sun God and the Eagle were both right.

Patt  
=======================================

 

Well, Blair didn’t think anything good could have come from this, but now he was wondering. He found himself smiling as he crawled into bed with Jim. Blair heard soft sobbing next to him. Jim was crying in his sleep. Blair touched him and said, “Jim, wake up, babe. I’m here. I’m alive. Open your eyes for me." 

Jim opened his eyes began hugging Blair tightly.

“Blair, what the fuck is going on?” Jim asked, “They told me you were dead. They said you and the Chief were both killed. Why would they tell us that?”

“Jim, I’m sorry,” Blair said, “we did what we thought was best. The Chief was afraid they would continue to come after us if they thought we were still alive. He knew that as soon as things quieted down, we’d come and tell you. We’re both sorry for doing that, but we had to.”

Blair moved back into Jim’s arms and started kissing him, like he had been given a second chance.

The kissing began intensifying. Jim pulled away and said, “Blair, I really want you.” 

Jim got up and went in the bathroom and grabbed the hand lotion. He jumped back in bed and said, “Blair, I need to feel you inside of me. “

Blair smiled and said, “Gosh the things you make me do. Jim, I don’t have any condoms with me.”

Jim said, “I’m clean, you know we all get tested. So I know you’re clean, too.”

Blair said, “Okay, but it’s just me and you from now on? Right?”

Jim kissed him and said, “Do I look like someone who would want to share?”

Blair prepared Jim with great patience and care. He wanted this to be great for both of them. He took Jim’s cock in his mouth as he continued the fingers in him to stretch him. 

Jim was thrusting up his hips and said, “Blair, I’m really close, babe, really, really close.”

Blair sucked harder and Jim yelled out his name when he came. Blair noticed that Jim’s sweet, hot hole was nice and loose now. So he put some of the lotion on his cock and told Jim he was going to push in. Jim tensed a little but Blair went slowly. He didn’t move until Jim told him to. 

Then he was all the way in. Blair could not believe how great it felt to fuck this man. He could have come from just listening to Jim’s moaning and watching his face. He started pounding into Jim, each time touching his prostate. Jim was close again. He told Blair, “Fuck me harder, babe.” So Blair did. And Jim was yelling Blair, over and over again for the second time tonight. When Jim yelled out, “I love you, Thundering Wolf,” Blair came just from hearing his Native name.

He lay there kissing Jim’s back. Still connected, Jim asked, “Could you pull out so I can show you what great cuddle I can give?” Blair slowly and gently pulled out and Jim rolled over so he could take Blair in his arms. And Jim did indeed give great cuddle. 

Two hours later, Jim woke to Blair in the shower. Actually, he was half in and half out. He had to keep his bandages dry, so trying to get the rest of him clean was a real chore. He joined him and gave Blair the best-damned blowjob he had ever gotten, or at least that is what Blair said. 

Then Blair said, “Jim I want to watch you stroke yourself and come for me. I want to see your face.” 

So Jim did. Blair got hard again just watching Jim rubbing his body. Then Blair said, Jim, I want you to fuck me.”

Jim quickly said, “No way. You have stitches and just got out of the hospital. I can’t do that to you. I’d be too afraid that I’d hurt you.”

Jim did one better- he opened up the clean Blair and decided to tongue fuck him like there was no tomorrow. But a funny thing happened to Jim while he was doing this. He got so turned on that he couldn’t even think. It didn’t help to have Blair chanting over and over again, “Fuck me, Jim.” 

Well, never let it be said that Agent Ellison was not a man who didn’t follow orders. He led Blair onto the bed and grabbed the lotion. He went back to tongue fucking him and started stroking him as he went. Blair was going wild. He kept saying, “Jim, I need you inside me. I need you inside me now.” Again, who was Jim not to follow orders? He slid his cock into the tight channel and pushed slowly. Blair was telling Jim, “Fuck me harder, come on, I’m not going to break.”

Jim started fucking Blair harder, and each time he was stroking Blair’s prostate making Blair yell out. Jim knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer, so he started pumping Blair’s cock and heard Blair say, “Now Jim, now would be good. I love you, my Tall Tree.” With this being said, Jim came and so did Blair. 

As Jim pulled out, he said, “What do you say about trying the shower again?”  
Blair laughed and said, “We definitely need one. But not quite yet.”

Jim pulled Blair into his arms and said, “Blair, I love you so much.”

Blair snuggled into Jim’s arms and answered, “And I love you back.”

While Blair was in the bathroom, Jim looked out the window and wondered if it was as cold out as it looked. The skies were totally grey. He hugged himself trying to warm up. He was suddenly so cold.

When they were done with their showers, they both got dressed, deciding to go and pick up the others to have some breakfast. Blair knocked on their door and Simon opened it up and took Blair right into his arms and said, “Sandburg, I never thought I would be so happy to see anyone.”

Then Brown and Taggert had to have their turn in just hugging this man to make sure he was really alive. They were all very happy. And they looked and saw the look on Jim’s face and knew this was a very good thing. Plus the fact that Connor opened her big mouth the night before when she had gone looking for a spot to sleep. So it was common knowledge now. Jim wasn’t certain he liked that idea yet or not. He’d have to think on it.

When they all got to the restaurant, Simon asked Ellison, Sandburg, and Connor, “Now that I have all three of you here, I wanted to ask you something. I discussed signing you all on the Cascade Police Department with my superior and he said that there is a program that allows men and women from FBI and CIA to come right into our department. There is no need for the academy. You all have all of your training. I can’t offer you as much money as the FBI, but I can promise that you won’t ever have to deal with anything like this alone, again. Go ahead and think on it and let me know what you think of that idea whenever you get back to the Agency.”

Brown said, “I just want all three of you to know, we would be proud to call you fellow officers.”

Taggert said, “I second that. We would love to see all of you in our bullpen.”

Jim answered quickly, “I’ll give my notice to the Agency, tomorrow. Thank you, Simon, for the offer and the chance at proving ourselves to you.”

Sandburg answered almost at the same time, saying, “Make that two of us. I’ll give my notice tomorrow, also.” He looked over at Jim and smiled. He knew they were doing the right thing.

Connor spoke up next, saying, “Make that three of us. You must be nuts if you think you both are leaving me at that Agency all by myself. I’ve never had better friends in my life. Count me in. I’ll give notice tomorrow too.”

They all shook hands across the table as their waitress came and took their orders. They all ate like they had not seen food in a year; especially Sandburg, he was starving. Jim said, “You hungry there, Sandburg?”

Blair smiled and said, “Hey they offered me green Jell-O in the hospital, what do you expect? I could eat a horse. Not that I want to.”

They all started laughing and talking as they waited for their food to come. Simon Banks looked around at everyone and thought to himself, this is a very good day.

Sandburg said, “Captain Banks, do you mind if I go and visit my grandfather after I finish breakfast?”

Simon replied, “Of course not, Sandburg. We all need to see him, too, and tell him how happy we are that he is alive and well. We hope to come and visit him again. He is a good man.”

Sandburg beamed as he said, “Thank you, Captain Banks. He really is a good man. I’m proud to call him family. Just like I'm proud to call you friends. I’m going to use my paid medical leave to help Chief Black Bear fix his house. Mostly patching and painting, but it needs to be done.”

At that moment their food arrived and saved all of them for getting all mushy. They continued to laugh, talk and just spend time with each other as they ate their breakfast. When they were finished, Jim picked up the bill and said, “On the Agency.”

They all walked with Jim and Blair to Chief Black Bear’s house. They walked together in friendship and contentment to see the Chief. 

When they arrived at Chief Black Bear’s home, Blair said, “Grandfather, I wanted to tell you that Captain Banks offered us all jobs working with the Cascade Police Department. And we all accepted. I’ll be closer and be able to visit much more now.”

The Chief smiled at his Grandson and said, “Thundering Wolf, I’m very happy to hear this. I worried about you working for the Agency from this day on. I’m glad I won’t have to be concerned about it. I know it was my idea for you to go there in the beginning, but we have seen what happens in the Agency.”

Blair took Jim aside and told him to call his dad. Jim thanked him for reminding him and pulled out his cell phone. Turning to the Chief, Jim asked, “Do you mind if I go in the kitchen for a little bit of privacy? I need to speak with my father.”

The Chief answered, “My home is yours. Do as you wish.”

Jim dialed his dad’s phone number and William Ellison answered, “Ellison residence.”

Jim said, “Dad? It’s me. I just needed to call and talk to you and fill you in on what is going on.” And Jim did just that. He told him all about what had happened and that Blair was still alive. He told him all about the last twelve hours, well, most of it.

William said, “Jimmy, I still want to see you as soon as you get to Cascade.”

Jim said, “I promise, Dad. I’ll be there. I can’t wait to see you.” Jim found it odd that he truly meant it. For some reason, Blair had made him feel more for everything and everyone by just being in his life.

When Jim got off the phone, he headed into the living room. He heard Blair say to Simon, “I’ll be here for two weeks, then I’ll be looking for a place in Cascade.”

Jim just stood there in the doorway, in shock. Simon looked over and saw his friend and went to him and said, “Don’t close up Ellison, and tell him if you want him to move in with you. He doesn’t know this for sure.”

So Jim said, “Sandburg, I have plenty of room at my loft. Why don’t you move in with me?”

Sandburg said, “Thanks Jim, I’ll think on it and let you know when I get back to Cascade.”

Chief Black Bear was watching and listening and stood up and said, “Thundering Wolf, I need to speak to you in private.”

As they walked into the kitchen, Jim walked out of the front door. Connor caught up with him and said, “Jim give him some time. He is a little confused. This is new to him too.”

Jim answered her saying, “I think I need to go home tonight.” 

He pulled his cell phone out and dialed the airport and asked about flights to Cascade. He booked he and Connor on the next morning's first flight, after Connor had informed Jim that she was ready to get out of there too.

Connor said, “Jim please go to the room and calm down. Things will work out, you just wait and see.”

With his shoulders sagging, Jim didn’t look anything like the agent she had met two weeks ago. No, this was Agent Jim Ellison in love and questioning that emotion right now. He was so intense. Her heart broke for him.

While this was going on, Chief Black Bear said to Thundering Wolf, “What do you think you are doing? Did you not tell this man that you loved him? Why then are you suddenly afraid of love?”

Sandburg looked at the floor as he answered, “Grandfather, everyone I have ever loved seems to be missing in my life. No one appears to stick around. Jim won’t want me once he works for CPD. Being gay is hard enough, but working for the Police Department is asking for trouble. He also should have children and he sure can’t do that with me.”

Chief Black Bear said, “Little Wolf, these are all things you need to discuss with Jim Ellison. Not me. I think you should talk tonight, because there is no time like the present. You broke his heart; I swear that I heard it. You must make that up to him.”

Blair helped the Chief make dinner, ate with him and then left to walk over to the motel and talk to Jim. He hoped that he wasn’t too late. 

When he got to the motel, Jim was lying on the bed watching television. When Blair walked in Jim didn’t even acknowledge him. He continued to ignore him as Blair climbed onto the bed. He snuggled up to Jim and started kissing him. But Jim wasn’t kissing him back. Blair said, “Jim, I’m sorry. I would love to move in with you on one condition.”

Jim said stiffly, “What?”

Blair said, “You have to promise me you won’t leave me. And if you decide you want to have a child we do it together. I don’t mean we have one together, but I mean, I would understand if you wanted one. I just want you to tell me. And I would love to raise a child with you. I love you, and I want to belong to you. I need to belong to you.”

Jim took Blair into his arms. Pulling him on top of him, he said, “You do belong to me. You have since the first time we met. It was fate. You take your time visiting with your grandfather, but in two weeks I expect to see you in Cascade, in our bed. Not my bed, but our bed. And I want my new partner to be at our new job, by my side. I’m going to leave first thing in the morning to get back and write my resignation. That way I will be ready in two weeks. Connor is going to go back with me. She doesn’t have a place in Cascade yet, so I offered her our spare room. Do you mind?”

Blair started laughing. He said, “Do I need to worry about Connor living in our home with my man?”

Jim glared at him and said, “No.” Then he smiled and said, “Blair I’d like you to fuck me all night long. That way I’ll be able to feel you for the next two weeks.”

Blair was happy to oblige. He proceeded to make sweet love to Jim all night long. Thank God, Blair thought, that Connor was bunking with the guys next door.

In the morning Jim had a paper with Blair’s new address, phone number and Jim’s cell phone number, waiting by the phone.

Blair went into the bathroom and Jim was just sitting on the tub with tears in his eyes. Blair asked him, “What’s wrong, Jim?”

Jim answered, “I don’t want to leave you. God I love you so much. I’ve never loved anyone like I do you.”

Blair started kissing him and said, “I’ll see if I can come home a few days early. As soon as I finish my visit and get released from the doctor for full duty, I’ll be home. Plus I really want to supervise all the work that needs to be done on the Chief’s house.”

Jim led Blair onto the bed and this time, it was his turn to make sweet love to Blair. As he did this, he said, “Blair, I know that time will go fast, but I am going to feel lost without you.”

When Jim said this, Blair lost complete control and came. Jim wasn’t even touching him physically, but just with his words. Jim followed soon after and then pulled out slowly and gently and took Blair into his arms for the last time for the next two weeks.

Blair told Jim he had to get up and get a shower taken care of so they could go and see Simon before he left. Jim got up, not really wanting to leave this man who was part of him now.

Jim showered and got dressed and then Blair did the same. They made their way to Simon’s room and knocked on the door. Simon said, “Jim we found out when you and Connor’s flight was and we all got on the same flight. So we will all be together.”

“Well, that works out great,” Jim said, “because I have some things I need to discuss with you, sir.” Jim thought, this might be the perfect time to tell him about the Sentinel abilities and how I really have to have Blair as my partner to help me control everything. 

Everyone was ready to go. They loaded their bags into the car trunk and slammed the lid down. 

Blair shook hands with everyone and said, “I’ll be there in two weeks. I can’t begin to thank you enough for everything you did for the Chief, the Reservation, and me. I’m very proud to call all of you friends.”

Then Jim took Blair into his arms and said, “Be safe, Thundering Wolf, and come home to me soon. I’ll miss you so much. I love you.”

Blair said with tears in his voice, “I love you, my own Tall Tree. I will come home to you. Have a safe trip and call me tonight.”

Jim got into the front seat of the car as everyone hugged Blair goodbye and wished him well. When they all pulled away, Jim’s walls went up.

To lighten the mood somewhat, Brown said, “Captain, how come Ellison always gets the front seat? He isn’t that much taller than anyone else.”

Jim smiled, and realized that the two weeks would fly by. He really liked these men. They had become good friends. And he loved Connor. 

As the car drove off down the road, Thundering Wolf headed for his grandfather's home. This was the best time of his life. He had found his grandfather and a new love all in one trip. This made up for all that had been missing in his life before then.

For the first time, he felt as strong as his name. Yes, this Wolf was Thundering. And he smiled at this new feeling.  
=========================================  
Looking  
I was looking for Family  
I found him.  
I was looking for love.  
I found it.  
I was looking for a home.  
I found two.  
I was looking for a friend.  
I found a tribe.  
I was looking for a new job.  
I found one.  
I was looking for the other half of my Soul.  
I found him.  
I was looking for people to trust.  
They found me.  
I was looking for a new life.  
I’m living it.

 

Patt  
==================================

 

End: Thundering Wolf


End file.
